what a great idea

Hi,
Why didn't I think of this and market it first?
"Wanted" advertising on  highway billboards.

I've seen everything on billboards over the last 50 years or so, from the hokey to the pokey. The tackiest was in Toronto at Victoria Park and Eglinton. It was for a car dealership whose slogan was "swing on down" and so they had a girl on a swing that moved back and forth hanging on the billboard. Even as a kid I thought it was silly and it didn't age well. Every so often some prankster would get up on it and decorate the swinging figure, usually with something rude or obscene. Once someone stole her off the billboard... an no one noticed for a whole month.

Last night, driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike I saw an LED billboard, the kind that flashes different ads at 30 second intervals and as I glanced at it, the image was an FBI wanted poster for a murderer in the Philadelphia area. Edward Murphy, in case you're curious. Nasty looking picture and not the Eddie Murphy of SLN fame either. I think this is a great promo idea. Between the internet and the interstate highway system it should be impossible for a felon to hide anymore.

Giving the FBI most wanted list some real face time is a fabulous way to get people out from under their rocks of hiding. I didn't know this Edward guy was wanted by the FBI but now, if I see him, I'm dialing 911 as fast as I can.... there is bounty money involved in this too. Who else can I be on the look out for? I'm going to pay a lot more attention to used car salesmen and insurance sellers. I'm positive there have to be a few of them on a list for doing something nasty to someone. Truly, give the bad guys their own Facebook pages and let the whole community know they are 'wanted'. I bet it would go viral in hours.

The old days of posters in the post office are long gone. I haven't see one of those signs since we moved from Fort Wayne to PA. The world is a much smaller place now, with fewer hiding spots. Just ask Gaddafi or Bin Laden. Billboards for the hunted criminal seems like a winner to me. I'm just sorry I didn't jump on it first.

xox
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