Human Billboarding:Peopled Publicity and a New Space of “Agency” in Advertising
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Authors
Susan L. McFarlane-Alvarez
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Journal Article, Academic Journal
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Abstract
In today’s saturated media environment, advertising messages populate every part of the landscape, a response to the reality that consumers are increasingly empowered by technologies that zap ads from traditional and new media. Against this backdrop, a renewed form of selling messages emerges, which continues to develop in pace with changes to the advertising and mass media landscapes. This article analyzes the evolving phenomenon of “human billboarding.” Beginning with an examination of the history of this practice, the paper moves beyond the usual “end of the world as we know it” position of other research in this realm, and seeks more productive ways to understand this new form of corporate messaging that predominates.