Billboard Hell

About two years ago, typhoon Yoyong hit Manila and toppled a couple of billboards. I blogged about how at least EDSA looked neater with all the giant signs torn down, rolled up or just plain removed from sight.

For all the havoc it has brought, Milenyo blessed us with two things. First, it gave us a repeat preview of how EDSA and Manila in general could look like without billboards cluttering the sky. Second, it once again highlighted the need to tame billboard hell in Metro Manila.

Although billboards used to help brighten up Manila, they now just add to the city clutter and pollution that is helping kill city-dwellers.

Advertisers should think twice about using billboards in the first place. The cityscape is so saturated with outdoor ads that their messages are simply drowned by the competition. One news report pegged the billboard count to more than 2,100 in the city. They should see whether their millions of pesos for billboards are really effective.

Celebrity endorsers were interviewed in another news report about what they thought of billboards and they all gave motherhood quotes along the lines of "If they are unsafe, then they should not be allowed in the city." Well, Hello?.Star endorsers, if you really think billboards are unsafe, then refuse to pose for billboard ads!

Anyways, at first I thought that billboard hell was only relevant in the city. But I on a drive along NLEX, I realized that the 5 kilometer viaduct that divides Bulakan and Pampanga has become billboard-infested too, covering the good view of the greenery.

I guess we won't really get to appreciate what we are missing unless we go abroad and see their uncluttered streets. Otherwise, we have had to rely on Yoyong and Milenyo to teach us a lesson.

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