200 Billboards 30 States, That’s Awareness!

Rheumatoid Awareness Day

Below is the Press Release.  

Lamar Advertising Partnering with Rheumatoid Patient Foundation in Support of Rheumatoid Awareness Day by Donating Billboards to Help Raise Awareness and Spur Greater Funding and Research

Baton Rouge, LA – January 23, 2018 – Lamar Advertising Company (Nasdaq: LAMR), one of the largest out of home media companies in the world, is supporting Rheumatoid Awareness Day through the donation of more than 200 billboards in 30 states across the country which will feature messaging designed to raise awareness of this life-shortening disease. Taking place on February 2nd, Rheumatoid Awareness Day is designed to address the lack of awareness for rheumatoid disease, a crippling affliction affecting millions. Lamar’s involvement in the effort was initiated by one of its own employees suffering from the disease.

“As a medium, outdoor advertising has tremendous power to drive awareness of important issues and inspire action,” said Barbara Campbell, real estate manager at Lamar Advertising of Milwaukee. “Two million Americans like me suffer from this progressive disease. We are proud to support the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation and join with many of their partners to mark the day and help bolster education efforts that hopefully will lead to earlier diagnoses and better treatments.”

Rheumatoid Awareness Day was created in 2013 to, in part, generate support for increases in much-needed funding for crucial research toward effective treatments and a cure.  Rheumatoid Arthritis currently receives only 8% of government funding per patient of comparable diseases. In years past, the organization has primarily used digital channels to spread its message. This year, Lamar is making selected billboards in high-trafficked locations available to help the organization reach a wider and more captive audience.

“We are so grateful for this partnership with Lamar Advertising, which has allowed us to broaden our rheumatoid disease awareness efforts across the country,” said Dana Symons, Vice President of the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation. “Our community has responded with tremendous enthusiasm to the billboards as they help bring this misunderstood and often invisible illness into the public light.”

The billboard creative, designed by the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, features the faces of actual rheumatoid disease patients who have donated their photos for awareness purposes. The campaign began earlier this month and will culminate on February 2nd.

About Lamar Advertising Company
Founded in 1902, Lamar Advertising Company (Nasdaq: LAMR) is one of the largest outdoor advertising companies in the world, with more than 340,000 displays across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Lamar offers advertisers a variety of billboard, interstate logo and transit advertising formats, helping both local businesses and national brands reach broad audiences every day. In addition to its more traditional out-of-home inventory, Lamar is proud to offer its customers the largest network of digital billboards in the United States with over 2,800 displays. Please feel free to explore our website www.lamar.com or contact us at hello@lamar.com for additional information.

About the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation
The Rheumatoid Patient Foundation is a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with rheumatoid disease. RPF was founded in 2011 to address a significant lack of disease education, comparatively low levels of research funding, and difficulty obtaining adequate treatment. RPF is committed to creating pathways to better clinical care and disease outcomes through education, awareness, and patient-centered research. For more information, visit http://rheum4us.org or follow RPF on Facebook or Twitter.

Press Contacts:
Greg Kalish
GK Communications
(917) 592-1942
gkalish@gkcomms.com

Allie McAlpin
Communications Director, Lamar Advertising Company
(225) 926-1000
amcalpin@lamar.com

Dana Symons
Vice President, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation
(616) 443-1998
dana@rheum4us.org