Ads on cars, vans, buses, and trucks don’t really have a very long history. It is a relatively recent phenomenon that has really flourished in recent years. Unlike other forms of outdoor promotion, vehicle advertising has the great advantage of being mobile.
Billboards are common in practically all countries. They litter the highways and back roads trying to sell you all sorts of things, or they can point the way to interesting local attractions, or advertise a local cafe or restaurant, knowing that a driver needs a regular livelihood.
However, the billboards are not moving. You have to go to the billboard to find out what the message is about. This works well on a highway or main road where cars pass regularly. It has been proven to be a very effective form of advertising, and the high charge for placing an ad on a billboard in a prime location reflects this.
Ads on cars change all that. The car can move and carry the message to people, so to speak. The ad is no longer tied to the whim of the traveler, who may or may not choose to pass. The car or truck that has an advertisement painted on the side can now go wherever it wants.
The appeal of this situation is obvious. People use cars on a daily basis and businesses also use vans and trucks on a daily basis. A vehicle of any type costs a lot to drive, and most vehicle owners would take advantage of the possibility of getting paid to drive their own car or truck.
That’s where the advertiser can step in. You can offer to pay the car owner an agreed sum in exchange for the car carrying an advertisement. The system works and is also very popular. It is a win-win situation. Of course, not everyone would like to have an advertisement all over the car, but for those who don’t mind, it’s a great solution.
The first form of vehicle advertising was with company vans and trucks. Business owners started by painting the company name sign on the sides of their vehicles, and of course they still do. Contact details soon became a standard inclusion with a phone number and an address. Today you will also see email addresses and websites.
It wasn’t long before car and truck ads started to get more creative and inventive. It became obvious that the general public was getting used to seeing the usual things, and they were largely ignoring it. That’s when the really good ads started showing up.
Now you can see camera makers putting your model’s lens over the rear wheel arches of buses, doors have been used to make parts of images move, and 3-D effects can bring everything to life. in ways no one dreamed of just a mother from the previous generation.
Ads on cars and trucks are big business now. It may be for large multinational companies, or it may be just for a local store, but either way there is a place for both and mobile ads on cars, buses, vans, and trucks are definitely here to stay.