$26 In LED Lights Boosts Attention And Impact Of Analog Highway Billboard

July 26, 2022 by Dave Haynes

Billboard Insider has a fun little guest post up about a small market billboard campaign that used LEDs – but just two lights instead of the many thousands of LED lights used on a typical roadside digital billboard.

The campaign for Hyundai of Dothan (Alabama) was built around the notion of the dealer warranties being so good they’d outlast a zombie apocalypse. Local media company Durden Outdoor has digital boards, but this ad was going on analog “bulletin” billboards – so the creative team came up with the idea of lighting up the zombie eyes using LEDs.

The company bought a pair of 4″ green LED lights meant for off-roading vehicles for $26, tied them into the power source for the billboard lighting, and switched them on.

“At $26 a pair,” notes Bill Durden, creative director at the outdoor media firm. “We were highly skeptical that these lights would be waterproof, much less bright enough to see at night. Whoa, were we blown away at the punch these inexpensive lights (had), even during the day time!”

Very simple but also very clever, and a reminder that creative is at the core of advertising. A $300,000 P10mm board along a highway is just a big, energy-sucking roadside light if the creative doesn’t attract the attention of motorists.