Policy & Advocacy - Truth vs. Myths

Myth #1: The Highway Beautification Act (HBA) was created to get rid of billboards

• The HBA was designed to regulate billboards, not eliminate them


• The HBA intended billboards to be located in commercial and industrial zones


• "Advertising has a vital place in our economy," said President Lyndon Johnson, White House Conference on Natural Beauty, May 25, 1965.

Myth #2: Overall, people hate billboards

• Most people say billboards provide useful information to travelers (Arbitron, 2002)


• American public opinion has been steady for more than three decades, supporting regulation but not elimination of billboards (Dr. Charles R. Taylor, Professor of Marketing, Villanova University, 2002)


• More than four out of five people feel digital billboards provide an important public service (Arbitron, 2008)

Myth #3: Billboard bans help tourism in places like Vermont

• Tourism in Vermont and Maine (no billboards) has lagged the rest of the country and similar-sized states (William Lilley III, iMapData, 2001)


• Loss of billboards causes immediate, significant economic harm to roadside businesses that rely on directional advertising


• Most billboard advertising promotes local business; the travel-tourism sector is the Number One buyer of outdoor advertising

Myth #4: Most localities ban billboards

• Regulation - not prohibition - is the norm


• Four out of five localities provide opportunities for the construction of billboards (Survey of local ordinances conducted by Cleveland State Law Professor Alan C. Weinstein)

Myth #5: Billboards distract drivers, causing traffic safety problems

• Billboards - even the most attention-getting billboards - do not affect driver behavior (Dr. Suzanne Lee, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, 2004)


• Comprehensive studies of accident data show that digital billboards have no statistical relationship with the occurrence of accidents (Tantala Associates, 2007 and 2009)


• Digital billboards are safety-neutral from the driver standpoint (Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, 2007)


• The federal government says tri-action billboards do not pose safety problems (FHWA, re amended Oregon state-federal agreement, Federal Register, April 2, 2002)

Myth #6: Billboards light up the skies at night

• Most sky glow - some 96 percent - is produced by sources other than billboards.


• Digital billboards are equipped with sensors so that lighting levels are adjusted for surrounding conditions to avoid glare

Myth #7: Amortization is just compensation

• Amortization is an arbitrary time allotment, not compensation


• Longstanding federal policy mandates cash compensation for billboards removed by government along federal roads


• 44 states protect against amortization of billboard assets along state and local roads


• Amortization is slow-motion confiscation (George F. Will, May 9, 1991)

Myth #8: Billboards are devices to promote vices: Smokes, sin and sex

• Since the 1999 settlement agreement, cigarette makers have not advertised their brands via outdoor formats


• The outdoor industry's code features an anti-obscenity clause and a 500-foot buffer from schools, parks, and places of worship)


• OAAA member companies have adopted policies against accepting sexually-oriented business ads

Myth #9: Billboards don't pay taxes

• Billboards are heavily taxed and heavily regulated


• Billboard operators pay state, local and federal taxes


• In addition to generating tax income for government, billboards also produce revenue via permit fees

Myth #10: Scenic Byways ban billboards

• Federal policy "segments" scenic byways, allowing billboards in commercial and industrial areas