A new advertising trend hitting U.S. cities is drawing concerns from residents about safety, pollution, and the livability of urban areas.
On an Indianapolis subreddit, one frustrated driver highlighted their run-in with three box trucks equipped with LED screens on all sides. The large trucks were part of a guerrilla advertising campaign for a new rideshare service.
The driver asked, "So are these dumb video billboards driving around downtown sticking around?"
Mobile billboards like these have been popularized in recent years, causing a great deal of controversy and driver frustration. And, as many commenters responded, they seem to be woefully unregulated.
"It's a loophole to the city's ban against them as actual billboards," one commenter wrote, citing the current limit on billboard advertising in Indianapolis.
"I wonder how long they'll last once they get blamed for causing an accident due to glare," another commenter wrote, bringing up valid safety concerns with the advertising tactic.
One commenter pointed out that these LED box trucks also contribute significantly to planet-warming pollution, all in the name of advertising. By running continuously to power their LED screens and driving around solely to advertise, these mobile billboards burn gallons of dirty fuel unnecessarily.
"How do you know we're in late-stage capitalism? Easy," one commenter wrote. "Despite the ongoing climate crisis, companies are buying trucks to drive them around aimlessly."
In response to a commenter who asked why billboards are bad, one Redditor expertly explained the problem with the popular advertising tactic.
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All the time 💯 "They're ugly, urban blight," the commenter wrote. "They lower property values and add nothing of value to the community — in fact, the money poured into them almost never stays local."
Not only are billboards unsightly, but ultra-illuminated versions are proven distractions to drivers — especially when on the road as mobile billboards. LED box trucks are also a textbook source of light pollution, which is the excessive use of artificial light that illuminates the night sky.
The National Park Service reports light pollution is especially harmful to insects and wildlife, confusing natural instincts and circadian rhythms. But light pollution also harms humans, contributing to a wide range of negative health impacts, according to DarkSky.
There are laws dictating how bright roadside billboards can be due to their distracting nature, but these laws tend to be underenforced. Mobile billboards, however, skirt current laws by being constantly on the move. Yet, illegally bright billboards of any kind can always be reported to the local or state highway department.
As one commenter wrote in response to this example of dangerous guerilla advertising: "Driving should not be distracting."
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