Mr. Board, I’m a little slow on this comment.

On May 23rd you featured a “Drop the Mic” photo from San Francisco. The traffic was definitely impressive in that photo—it would almost make one think that automobile impressions are returning to normal. However, I maintain that most markets can find “patches” of congested traffic caused by some type of accident or construction, but this heavy traffic is the exception not the rule.

Here is the “Drop the Mic” photo from Detroit. I took this photo last Friday, May 22. There was bumper to bumper traffic for two miles on westbound I-94 near the I-75/I-94 interchange. Very impressive, but the traffic back up was caused by an accident and the resulting gawker slowdown.

Of more significance to me is the beautiful 20′ x 80′ bulletin in this photo advertising the Rolling Stones concert that was scheduled for June 10 at Comerica Park. This concert was postponed due to Covid 19 on March 17. In other words, more than two months after the show was cancelled, OUTFRONT is still running this copy.

What’s up with that? I’m 99.9% sure the advertiser was issued a credit for this space when the concert was postponed. To make matters worse, OUTFRONT has copy advertising Mayor Pete, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, and Tom Steyer on another over-sized bulletin that are 500′ east of the Rolling Stones billboard. The Michigan presidential primary was March 10th and Mayor Pete, Klobuchar, and Steyer had all dropped out of the race prior to the primary!

This is really outrageous and shows a complete lack of respect for the Out of Home industry. How can a billboard company tout that “things are returning to normal” when they can’t sell their “A+” inventory more than two months after the copy as expired? If they can’t sell the space, why not give this quality space to a worthwhile public service advertiser? I’m embarrassed for them.

Carole Jones

PS I applaud you for taking the high road on your comments regarding the two webinars that OAAA is “sponsoring” this week. I have always said that if you are going to steal someone’s idea, make sure it’s a good one!