“We’ve tried every trick,”
Advertising said.
“But our product’s unknown,
And we’re still in the red.

We have given out pens
And had product promos,
And hired big stars
Like Britneys and Bonos.”

“I’ve heard one idea,”
A shy salesman posed.
“What’s that?” the boss barked,
While others just dozed.

“Our rivals have hired
A banner display
To be flown over beaches
And where people play.

Their sales are all up
While ours still decline.
Perhaps we could try
A banner ad sign?”

“Preposterous plan!”
Advertising sneered.
(Though privately it
Was his job he feared.)

“He’s got an idea,”
The big cheese confessed.
“Let’s not throw it out
Like we have all the rest.

So what is involved?
Just what do we do?
How much does it cost?
Is it something quite new?”

“Oh no! I’m quite certain
Banner ads have been used
By successful firms.”
The boss sat and mused.

“Go on,” he said,
“I like what I’m hearing;
It’s worth a try.”
(The others stopped jeering.)

“There’s nothing really
We need but the blurb.
Airsigns handles all
And their work is superb!

They’ll even design
The phrase you desire,
Then print it, and fly it,
And store it-” “I’ll hire!”

The boss was convinced
This was the solution
To their sagging sales
And poor distribution.

Soon sales skyrocketed,
Millions wanted to buy
The special product
That they saw in the sky!

The salesman, of course,
Was given a raise
And made head of promotion;
His career set ablaze!

The moral is simple:
Don’t allow sales declines;
Banner ads work!
Now contact AirSign.

In the past you may have bought cards, promised to take out the trash, taken him out to eat, written him messages of appreciation. Now that you’re older and have more money, you would probably like to do something really special to let him know how much your father means to you. If this is you, then here is a unique Fathers Day idea!

Imagine you have joined your parents for Father’s Day on Sunday and, at a set time, you ask him to retreat to the back yard for a special surprise. He is anticipating a cake or another card or perhaps a unique visitor. However, instead of more food or a long lost relative showing up, you hear the drone of an airplane engine overhead and direct his attention skyward.

Suddenly, passing over you flies an airplane pulling a banner that is seven feet tall and up to 120 feet long! The banner reads, “Announcing The Best Dad Around”- and his name follows. Tears flow down his face as he comprehends your investment in this unique expression of appreciation. You have made his day and maybe his year!

Further, your family is not the only ones to read this message. As the plane makes multiple passes over your area, neighbors and friends alike are aware of your unique expression of kindness. Or, if you lured him to the beach or a sporting event for the surprise, the entire stadium of people will read the message and be impressed by this unforgettable Father’s Day idea. After all, why keep the greatness of your father the world’s best kept secret!

Your first thoughts about this idea might be, “That sounds fantastic, but won’t it be expensive?” First, don’t forget the investment he made in your life over the years. It is estimated that it costs close to $200,000 to raise a child to age eighteen. The banner appreciation ad is far cheaper than that! In fact, banner ads are surprisingly inexpensive when you consider the huge audience who will view it.

Further, the banner, once made, can be saved (the banner company will store it for you if you like) and used again other years. The banner company is able to design and print the banner, fly the banner over the area you designate as many times as you like, and then store the banner for future use.

Father’s Day is just around the corner. Why not go all out with a very unique presentation using a banner ad, a message that says, “I want everyone to know my Pop’s Tops!” But you’d better act quickly. There’s not much time left.

Some trucks also contain sophisticated mobile ads like rolling billboards where the message is constantly changing, or lighted ads usually pulled behind trucks. The advantage of this type of ad is that is can be brought to the scene of the product or service, such as a truck parked in front of a restaurant telling of its recent opening.

Mobile truck advertising does what billboards do except the message goes to the people instead of waiting for the people to pass by and see it.

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Several years ago my family and I drove through Canada on business. I was immediately struck by the absence of billboards along the roads. At first it was pleasantly pristine. But after a while, I found I missed the information they gave as I traveled.

Of course, most billboards are huge signs pasted to a support on some rented piece of property like a farmer’s field. The more people who travel that highway, the better. The billboard stands there, awaiting people traveling by to read the message. Now imagine this billboard flying into the air over some huge gathering of people. That is the essence of aerial billboard advertising.

Though the size and message of aerial billboards may be the same as that of roadside billboards, there are differences. The stationary roadside billboard hopes to be read by moving people; the moving aerial billboard will be read by stationary people. Also the roadside billboard will probably be read by a fraction of the travelers going by. The aerial billboard, on the other hand, will be read by virtually everyone in its viewing path. The roadside billboard may be viewed by thousands over a traveling season; an aerial billboard will be viewed by thousands in a matter of minutes.

The aerial billboards are made of lightweight but strong nylon. With some the message is painted, with others it is dyed in the material with a sun inhibitor for protection. The billboard is not really a banner though some pull an additional banner message behind them. Aerial billboards could be as large as 100 feet long and 50 feet tall! It could display a logo, the name of a product, a photo, or anything else you see on a roadside billboard.

This huge billboard is supported in the front by a lead pole and weighted on the bottom so it stays upright. A bridle is attached to the lead pole and that attached to a 250 feet rope. The pilot gets airborne, then circles around and tries to hook a loop of rope attached to two poles. This loop is fastened to the tow rope. The hook is attached to the bottom of the plane. As the pilot passes over the banner and catches it, he immediately banks upward, causing the billboard to be pulled upward, away from the ground.

Of course, billboard advertising like this is dependent on the weather. Heavy winds could make it impossible for a small plane to pull such a resistance. Sometimes the banner cannot be added to the back of the billboard because of the drag. When the flight is over, the pilot is able to fly low and drop the billboard safely to the ground where it will be retrieved and stored for future use.

The only real difference between an aerial banner and an aerial billboard is the size and shape of the message trailing behind the plane. Clients might include restaurants, products, special events, ordinary people with congratulatory messages, wedding proposals, directions, information like a web page where they can get further details, special sales, local businesses, movie promotions, and many others. Billboard messages include just about anything people want to get to the public quickly.

The good news is that the aerial advertising rates are a lot less than some TV or printed ads. And if it is done right, companies using this method of aerial advertising can be confident that the billboard will bring in revenue equal to several times this cost. It is an investment that can pay back very well.

The banners could be short or as long as a hundred feet or more. It could have two lines of writing, one line of large writing, or a message with a logo. It could even involve a billboard with a banner towed behind it. The purpose of banner towing is to get a concise message to a large cross section of the population for a minimum of cost.

To do this, Austin hired an aerial advertising company to design and display a banner, reading, “Ruthie - Will you marry me? Love Cowboy.” His family had planned a reunion the second Saturday in July and that would be the perfect time to unveil his desire. The company handled everything, design, construction, and display of his message. When it flew overhead, Ruthie wasn’t the only one who was impressed!

Many people are exchanging the cost of a banner message for the long lasting memories it provides. Imagine welcoming home a child from the military, celebrating a key birthday, recognizing an honor by letting the world (or at least the community) know how proud you are of them!

Don’t confuse banner ads or aerial advertising with the banner ads on the computer. The aerial ad or message is not an annoying frame that pops on the screen right where you were reading, but is a full-length sentence or message pulled behind an airplane at a given location for a designated length of time. Banner ads often appear at beaches or are seen flying by athletic events. It is an effective way to get a message out to a large number of people or a special message out to the right person or people in a memorable way.

An aerial message as described above is simple. Think of a sentence or few words that would express what you want to convey. Then contact a company that provides banner towing and present your idea. They will have suggestions to make it just right. The company will do all the work and fly the message where you want it displayed. In some areas more than one company has this service so investigate to find out what is right for you.

By the way, remember Austin and Ruthie? Ruthie’s reply was, “Oh, Austin, I do love you but give me a week to think it over and talk with my parents, and I’ll give you my answer then.” Sure both Austin and his family were disappointed but they appreciated her mature approach to such an important decision. Little did he or they know what she was planning. The next Saturday, another banner flew overhead, right on time and at the right location. It read, “Yes! - Ruthie”

The airplane takes off and then passes over the field containing the banner. A tow hook catches the banner and pulls it into the air. The airplane banner is then flown over a large gather of people so they can read it as they watch a sporting event, sit on the beach, or wait in traffic. It often makes multiple passes over the crowd so that they can’t miss reading the message.

So how do we get such a huge banner into the sky? If the banner were attached to the plane before it took off, this would cause two problems. First, the banner would drag across the runway and get damaged. Second, The drag of the huge banner would make it more difficult to get off the ground and this means the banner would drag even longer.

Getting the airplane banner into the sky takes a great deal of skill. But the huge success of aerial advertising makes it worth the trouble. First, the airplane takes off with a device called a “grapnel hook” hanging in the window. The other end is attached to the tail of the airplane by either rope or cable.

When the airplane is safely off the ground, the pilot unhooks the device from the window, letting it trail behind the plane. On the ground the banner or billboard is folded up with a lead pole in front. A harness is attached to the lead pole. Then a pick up rope is attached to a loop of rope that is attached between two poles about five or six feet off the ground.

Now the plane circles around and, with the hook dragging below the plane and flying at 80 miles an hour, the pilot heads straight for the two poles. As he reaches them, he throttles the engine and pulls back on the stick, causing the plane to soar upward at a steep angle. The hook snags the loop of rope, which pulls the banner up, off the ground and into the sky. What if he misses? Then he circles around and tries it again.

But how does the banner stay upright and not, like a kite, spiraling in the wind? First, the tail end of heavy billboards or banners has tiny parachutes that catch the wind and keep it straight. Then the bottom has weights that keep that edge closest to the ground. The letters are usually seven feet tall and the banner might be up to fifty letters long. So everything must be planned just right so that the drag is not too great or too little.

When our pilot has completed his mission over the designated area, he will fly the banner back to the drop off place, fly low again, and, release the hook so the banner falls to the ground unharmed. This way it is reusable if that is desired.

All this may seem like a lot of trouble, but the result is worth the effort. Thousands will see the banner, both at the event and on the way to and from it. The message will get out and people will be influenced by the message. But not all aerial advertising is provided equally. Some companies simply take an order and contract it out. Since 1996, AirSign has been leaders in the industry by taking personal care of their customers using the best pilots, sharpest looking planes, and providing accountability for their work through free GPS tracking. Give us a call at (888) 645-3442 and find out what we can do for you!

However the message is displayed, it is guaranteed to be seen and read as it is flown over large gatherings of people at sporting events, beaches, or areas of heavy traffic. Airplane advertising would also include skywriting.

Aerial logo boards are often ads without words. A billboard containing only the logo of the company is pulled over a large gathering of people as a reminder of their service or product which results in increasing the awareness of their brand.