Worst Billboard in Town? Hail to the King, baby.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Beam) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:40:00 +0000

I'm fairly most people have seen it. It's right across from the KMart shopping center on the Westside - and before that, it was midway up 10th Avenue South. It's the Kleen King upside-down billboard.

Sighhhhhhhhh

It pokes me in both eyes and abuses my design sensibilities like a government mule every time I see it. It's like taking a big boot to the head by the Hulk Hogan of anti-advertising.


BAH GAWD, KING IT'S UPSIDE-DOWN!!!

Now, before I begin - I would like to say that Kleen King's radio jingle is totally awesome and their corporate look is…well, clean. Someone in the upper management has given care to their brand identity over the years. To be honest, I was very surprised to see the billboard presented in such a way due to their great track record of making an effort to come up with creative and effective marketing. But this upside-down billboard stuff is just horrible and it doesn't work.

Or does it?

As much as I want to lambaste the idea of rotating a graphic 180 degrees to make people look at it - I have to reluctantly admit that it does work on a scientific level.

The only reason you're staring at this girl is because she's upside-down

Why does it work? I would imagine the person who posited the idea of an upside-down billboard at a hastily put-together morning meeting would probably back up his theory by saying: "Because it makes ya look - now gimme one o' them donuts". And, in his own succinct way - he'd be right. By rotating a common image (such as a billboard with readable text on it) into an orientation that is very uncommon to our brain engages the superior colliculus. The general function of this system is to direct behavioral responses based on visual input towards specific points in our egocentric space - the space that is the part of our memory responsible for recording information about the environment around us and spatial orientation.

It's that part of your memory that allows you to remember where China Buffet is at on 10th Avenue South while texting on your phone and screaming at your kids all at once without missing the turnoff.

DON'T MAKE ME COME BACK THERE!

Your brain has mapped it subconsciously so many times that it's become familiar to the point that your brain doesn't have to focus on it. However, when you introduce an element along that route that is unusual to your brain - i.e, an upside-down billboard - your superior colliculus is engaged, sending a message to your brain to move your eyes and look at this new piece of information that is being added to part of the existing map.

Genius.

Because of our 21st century sensory-overloaded brains, we don't turn our heads at EVERY new thing out there - but the ol' noodle will engage when we see something that just isn't right in our periphery.

As Captain Picard Says: SPACESHIP GO NOW

So, there's the science behind why it works. But from a design aspect - it's atrocious, lowbrow and hokey. Flipping your billboard upside-down is on par with saying that adding starbursts or printing on colored paper are acceptable design solutions. A well-thought out billboard with a unique, interesting message is just as effective, and will portray a business as professional and polished. Our profession is centered around creating things people look at - but there has to be some semblance of style and principal to those creations.

A great billboard idea and it fits with Great Falls' demographic!

It takes a little extra money, effort and time. These are things that are not in abundance in this marketplace. Small marketplaces = small economy. Couple that with our instant gratification society - who demand that everything be done right this very second like a petulant 5 year old - and you can begin to see why so many things in the world around us are horribly designed with absolutely no adherence to principals. And, because our society has a poor grasp of those principals, standards drop and the bar of what is acceptable advertising lowers.

The message it sends to your customer base is that you are willing to cut corners on your branding or advertising. And, they will naturally assume that you'll cut corners on OTHER things - and that's not a good message to send.

There's a reason why McDonald's, Nike or Apple don't do "upside-down" advertising - because it's just not a professional way to present yourself to consumers. That, in itself is a defending point when a business owner thinks that having an upside-down image is a great advertising method.

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Jason Beam is an Art Director for Walker Design Group in Great Falls, Montana. He is also an instructor with MSU-College of Technology in their Graphic Design Program. He has been doing design, commercial art and photography since 1995. Any opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Walker Design Group or MSU-COT.

Design Hell - The Devil is in The Details

Worst Billboard in Town? Hail to the King, baby.