The Attention-Getting Device

I tend to look at issues of signage as being small change in the context of long-term community development: billboards are awfully transient things. Still, the idea of viewsheds has become a hot topic for a number of Athenians, so I couldn't resist doing a quick comparison of two stories recently covered in both the Athens Messenger and the Athens News (click here to link to the four articles).

In story number one, Nauman Outdoor Advertising, a billboard company based in Lancaster, has donated three weeks of space on one of their signs to Jonas Hart, an artist from Logan. Hart's project, entitled "This Exit", is a 320 square foot mural of the surrounding highway view on Route 33 north of Nelsonville, which he says is intended to shake us passing motorists out of our driving daze and point to the incredible Southeast Ohio landscape we often take for granted. Nauman, whose company website claims that "Outdoor advertising offers endless creative options", seems to be backing that statement up -- they supplied the panels Hart painted the project on and installed them on the sign for him, all free of charge. The result is one seriously neat roadside art exhibit and a surge of positive publicity for Nauman Advertising. "This Exit" will be up through the end of this month, and if your drive doesn't take you on that stretch of 33 you can still catch a glimpse of the mural on Jonas' Flickr photo album.

Story number two is a horse of a different color. Barnes Advertising Corp., a Zanesville company similar in size and profile to Nauman, has partnered with Athens Paint and Decorating to dodge an Athens City ordinance forbidding large billboards within the city limits and place a double-decker, two-way serving of ads halfway down Columbus Road. The signs take advantage of a ragged city line that leaves a few parcels on the Hocking River side of the road out of reach of Athens law; Barnes has apparently even brushed off requests by County Planner Bob Eichenberg that their ads be lit from above to cut down on light pollution. A number of Athenians have already complained, but the governmental response has been "It's technically outside the city limits, there's nothing we can do."

Well, there is a small thing you can do: take a moment to email both companies and tell them what you think of the way they do business. Thank Nauman for showing the world that an advertising company can be civic-minded and savvy at the same time. And tell Barnes Advertising that they don't have to being doing something that's illegal for it to be shady, tacky, unethical and mean-spirited, and that Athens locals have longer memories than they might expect. May the benevolent business model win!

Contact at Nauman Outdoor Advertising
noa@naumanoutdoor.com

Contacts at Barnes Advertising Corp.
Mary Jane Shackelford, president of Barnes Advertising: maryjshackelford@sbcglobal.net
John Barnes, vice president of Barnes Advertising: jw_barnes@sbcglobal.net

While you're at it, it might be a good idea to send a gentle reminder to David West, owner of Athens Paint and Decorating, that sticking your thumb in the collective eye of your customer base doesn't do much to keep them loyal. Too many people shop at Lowes already; why should a competing local business owner give them another reason to do so? Email him at davidewest@yahoo.com.