Originally published Friday, August 8, 2008 on the Wizards of Weimer blog.
Anyone who really knows me knows that deep down I really want to be an astronaut. Seriously, people used to ask me what I studied in school, and I said advertising. And they asked what I wanted to be, and I said either a rock star or an astronaut. Well, we all know that one isn't really going to work out, but there's still a chance at being an astronaut, right?
WRONG!
That is, until space tourism came along!
I may not be leading a manned mission to Mars, but if I get enough dough, I'll be able to find my way into space! Don't know how willing I am to ride on SIR Richard Branson's new bundle of joy, but give it time and there will be plenty of competitors that the experience will be better, longer, and more worth the money. Hell, they should follow an example set awhile ago and cut down on costs by selling advertising!
Soon enough, I'm sure we'll be looking at space hotels and other fun things, maybe something straight out of 2001 or the Fifth Element.
(yeah, that says Hilton)
With this, undoubtedly, will come all new forms of media. Or at least new versions of old ones. Hell, they're advertising on tray tables on planes now!
But the coolest stuff they've been doing is advertising you can see from your plane! Papa John's just unveiled one near Denver. There was one with a giant pole dancer that got a lot of attention on the way to Gatwick airport near London (a nice follow up to one a few years ago). And out in the Nevada desert, Maxim and this fun one that I've managed to track down on Google maps.
(and the one seen from google maps...i didn't feel like posting a pic)
Now, this isn't exactly a recent phenomenon. The Nazca Lines have been around forever, yet nobody knows who their target audience was (or still is). Maybe they were advertising certain aspects of life on Earth, like spiders and monkeys (there are other animals as well. "Come visit Earth! We have a zoo!" One NASA astronaut has recently come forward saying we've made contact. Is that effective reach? We've also forayed into some new media with this too, instead of using some very traditional OOH, thanks to Doritos.
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Honestly, I just can't wait to be taking a relaxing cruise around the Earth 1000 miles up and look out my window and see:
