# Billboards

> A chronological documentary of 73 moments spanning 1850–2026.
> Source: https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards · Loreline (loreline.live)

The billboard — from hand-pasted bill posters and painted brick walls to the roadside giants of Route 66, the neon blaze of Times Square, the campaigns that became icons, and today's towering LED spectaculars. A visual history of the biggest advertising medium ever built, all the way back to the 'bill posters' whose boards gave the trade paper Billboard its name.

_last updated 2026-07-16._

## Eras

- **The Painted Wall & Bill Posters** — The origins of outdoor advertising: 19th-century bill posters pasting playbills on any flat surface, the painted brick 'wall dogs', ghost signs and the trade that literally gave us the word 'billboard'.
- **Roadside America** — As the automobile remade the country, the billboard rose along the highways — standardized boards, Burma-Shave's roadside poems, Route 66 and the fight over the American roadside.
- **Times Square & Neon** — The billboard as spectacle: the electric blaze of the Great White Way, Piccadilly Lights, the neon of Las Vegas, and the spectaculars that turned advertising into architecture.
- **Iconic Campaigns** — The billboards that entered the culture: the Marlboro Man, Apple's Think Different, Benetton's shock ads, the hand-painted rock boards of the Sunset Strip and the campaigns everyone remembers.
- **Digital & LED** — The 21st-century billboard: the all-digital Times Square, giant LED spectaculars, programmatic and interactive boards, and projection turning whole buildings into screens.
- **Billboards in Art & Protest** — When the billboard talks back: subvertising and culture-jamming, protest boards, Banksy, 'Three Billboards', and the bill-posting trade that named the magazine Billboard in 1894.

## Timeline

### 1850
- **1850-01-01** — The playbill and the poster. Theaters and circuses papered towns with posters; the demand for space created the trade of the bill sticker. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/7d5ec6c4-2be8-4590-a825-95158beec297) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtKvsHdlwYs
### 1890
- **1890-01-01** — The circus and the giant poster. Barnum and the great circuses pioneered the spectacular multi-sheet poster pasted across whole barns and walls. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/70b1fe96-5654-4bf9-a4af-d3a784f2ee87) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Great_Wallace_Shows_ballet_circus_poster.jpg
### 1894
- **1894-01-01** — The first Coca-Cola wall sign. Coca-Cola painted its first wall advertisement in Cartersville, Georgia, in 1894 — a sign still visible today. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/a5b775d7-7f57-47cc-89cd-85ecca36590f) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d62oL2_Bjn4
### 1935
- **1935-01-01** — Times Square in its neon heyday. Through the 1930s and '40s, Times Square became the world's most famous canvas of light and advertising. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/2d4a45d4-5011-4d8d-84e5-ce1bb1855719) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMliasQ_3dI
### 1941
- **1941-01-01** — The Camel cigarette 'smoke ring' sign. From 1941, a Times Square billboard blew real smoke rings for a Camel cigarettes ad — a spectacular of its age. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/2db9892c-1670-4b36-b818-fc70eb7afcfe) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Camel_Cigaretts_Sign_--_Times_Square_1965.jpg
### 1959
- **1959-01-01** — Volkswagen — Think Small. DDB's 1959 'Think Small' remade advertising with wit and white space; it topped Ad Age's century list. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/b7e1582d-1d37-40ef-90ab-9a109ed43246) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUlZmZ_sd_E
### 1960
- **1960-01-01** — The Times Square 'spectacular'. The giant animated 'spectaculars' of Times Square combined lights, motion and even waterfalls into advertising theater. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/d953ac7f-6170-4a86-b16c-fa485fcf8f7f) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bond_Waterfall_sign_night.jpg
### 1969
- **1969** — The Marlboro Man. From 1954, the rugged Marlboro Man rode across billboards worldwide in one of advertising's most iconic campaigns. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/73758d21-c228-4d25-8f0c-e571d9532bc8) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaaS91etEJU
### 1970
- **1970-01-01** — The hand-painted rock boards of Sunset Strip. From the 1960s, giant hand-painted billboards for rock albums towered over LA's Sunset Strip — art as advertising. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/c92ffad3-0f7b-4386-92fc-1482274d3135) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sunset_Strip_in_Hollywood,_1975.jpg
### 1977
- **1977** — Avis — We Try Harder. Avis's 1962 'We're number two, we try harder' turned a weakness into an iconic campaign. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/84a7283b-ef97-42e5-9fed-37e4b81003a6) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gMsusVaLng
### 1979
- **1979** — Silk Cut — the purple silk. Banned from naming the product, Silk Cut ran years of cryptic purple-silk billboards — advertising as riddle. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/a79c09d5-eb8a-46c1-8f29-376ee2c0681f) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGETLgNytCw
### 1981
- **1981** — The Milk Tray Man. Cadbury's daring 'all because the lady loves Milk Tray' man became a British advertising legend. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/0f7c1b7f-a0b1-46e3-94b3-8de7ce08a3a7) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3Gzn5QpZVA
### 1984
- **1984** — The OXO family. The long-running OXO family adverts became a warm fixture of British living rooms. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/0800d540-8a81-4a6f-a658-01fb231677da) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESTZF454WIs
### 1987
- **1987-01-01** — Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet. Hamlet's 'Happiness is...' ads, scored to Bach's Air on the G String, are treasured British classics. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/6599b673-3e6c-4e8c-bbed-49e7cba4f30a) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvNdhriwGuM
### 1989
- **1989-10-30** — The Energizer Bunny. The drumming pink bunny that 'keeps going and going' became a permanent ad icon from 1989. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/ee23f4a0-050a-455b-b5db-5da5632f0e78) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJTAbYGrYDc
### 1993
- **1993-11-29** — Got Milk?. The 1993 'Got Milk?' campaign and its milk-mustache billboards became an American institution. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/e57ff826-343f-409f-804e-ca70334ed76a) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gkqzxss8Ss
### 1994
- **1994-01-01** — Wonderbra — Hello Boys. Eva Herzigová's 1994 'Hello Boys' Wonderbra billboards famously stopped traffic across Britain. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/23dc69cd-c48e-431e-8031-13bbbb5530aa) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-Or0CNgPhk
### 1995
- **1995-01-29** — Budweiser frogs. Bud's croaking frogs became one of the most quoted ad campaigns of the '90s. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/4414fe3a-3877-4ccb-9ba0-70ee485acac5) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC5IqVOF19U
- **1995** — Subvertising and culture jamming. Activists and artists hijack billboards — the Billboard Liberation Front and Adbusters turn ads against themselves. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/6ac0bbe6-43bf-4ce0-bd69-fc0c2f3cfe07) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjgrHX94bKo
### 1997
- **1997-09-28** — Apple — Think Different. Apple's 1997 'Think Different' billboards, featuring Einstein, Gandhi and Dylan, relaunched the brand. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/35935762-d59d-45a5-bf68-19e81e12aa9b) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYuqWgoUpdg
### 1999
- **1999-01-01** — Guinness — Surfer. Guinness's 'Good things come to those who wait' surfer ad topped polls as the greatest of all time. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/c40cd1e0-5edc-44e2-a2b7-ee287653c6ed) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l6zS9gHmP4
### 2005
- **2005-01-01** — The rock-album Sunset boards. Record labels paid for towering hand-painted Sunset Strip boards for albums from the Beatles to Guns N' Roses. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/115d4261-014b-41ac-a35c-1fadd117ebf4) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqOuXynpahg
- **2005** — See Rock City. Painted on hundreds of barn roofs from the 1930s, 'See Rock City' became one of the most famous roadside campaigns. The subject dates from 1935; this photograph was taken in 2005. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/f2bff2da-0120-450d-8a14-cbf600f9ed4a) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:See_Rock_City_barn,_Rutherford_County,_TN.jpg
### 2008
- **2008** — The neon of Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Strip turned the illuminated sign into an art form — the cowboy Vegas Vic and a desert of neon. The subject dates from 1955; this photograph was taken in 2008. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/7df199b6-eb6e-4912-9baf-ed575c97e84c) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vegas_Vic-closeup.jpg
- **2008-08-14** — The Great White Way. By the 1900s, electric signs blazed so brightly over Broadway that Times Square earned the name 'the Great White Way'. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/a9d80946-d762-45bf-bebc-063e2b2dfb60) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3MJtH-mF3k
### 2009
- **2009** — Ghost signs. Faded painted-wall ads survive on old buildings for a century — the 'ghost signs' of a lost advertising age. The subject dates from 1910; this photograph was taken in 2009. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/b10c92bf-4525-4d5b-aaf4-d40b7d765f41) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Faded_painted_advertising_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1638719.jpg
### 2010
- **2010-01-01** — Banksy and the billboard. Street artists from Banksy on have used the billboard as a canvas for satire and dissent. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/cb29ad5d-de55-43d7-aba8-c6dccf6dc3fd) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8z9TqPw3As
- **2010-02-04** — Old Spice — The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. Old Spice's 2010 campaign became a viral phenomenon and revived a dying brand. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/859f5e1f-8e9d-48be-b1af-a97a46b4e1fe) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE
### 2012
- **2012** — The Golden Arches. McDonald's Golden Arches became one of the most recognized signs on Earth, glowing over roadsides worldwide. The subject dates from 1962; this photograph was taken in 2012. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/425a74a7-3598-413b-9fa6-f1886d1538dc) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McDonalds_Golden_Arches.jpg
- **2012** — Piccadilly Lights, London. London's Piccadilly Circus has carried illuminated advertising since 1908 — Britain's answer to Times Square. The subject dates from 1930; this photograph was taken in 2012. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/ba4aeb1e-785f-40ab-a48d-d58710931449) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piccadilly_Circus_by_night_January_2012.JPG
### 2014
- **2014-01-01** — The all-digital Times Square. By the 2010s Times Square's last painted signs were gone, replaced by vast LED screens like the block-long Nasdaq tower. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/3ca4344d-d867-443b-981f-da0915a95af7) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9nGY5CXIaA
- **2014-04-18** — The wall dogs and painted walls. 'Wall dogs' hand-painted enormous advertisements directly onto brick, high above the street. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/bde5d1bd-e8f1-40d5-beb7-0c820601740a) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq2sxKg8mn0
### 2015
- **2015-01-01** — Times Square today. Modern Times Square is a canyon of screens — a permanent, dazzling storm of digital advertising. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/9d4444b5-0862-465d-9d02-5166319ae7d0) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCId-swJ19w
- **2015-02-03** — Pepsi vs Coke — the cola wars. The billboard cola wars — Pepsi and Coke sniping at each other on giant boards — became advertising theater. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/6242d34e-7dc9-4320-8d31-126735c3cd4b) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHZQAYrr5-Y
- **2015-05-21** — I ❤ NY. Milton Glaser's 1977 'I ❤ NY' logo became the most imitated and beloved piece of civic advertising ever. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/874c9637-125b-4d33-9afd-890d3ef470a7) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg833JHX5IA
- **2015** — The Hollywood Sign. Erected in 1923 as an ad for a housing development ('Hollywoodland'), it became the world's most famous sign. The subject dates from 1923; this photograph was taken in 2015. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/563f7110-fd2c-4d4c-b6a0-027648ed43a2) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hollywood_Sign_(Zuschnitt).jpg
### 2016
- **2016-01-01** — Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo. Tokyo's Shibuya Crossing wraps its crowds in giant screens and sound — Asia's great advertising spectacle. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/b44db9b3-bd1f-415a-990f-84176fe50d75) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndfzieWlinw
### 2017
- **2017** — The Economist — white-out-of-red. The Economist's witty white-on-red poster campaign became one of advertising's most admired. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/a6a1dc6d-f8fb-4870-b950-c66e4dbe4bad) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKIiCcWVOgM
- **2017-10-01** — The Coca-Cola Times Square sign. Coca-Cola's Times Square sign has glowed in some form since 1920 — one of the longest-running billboards in the world. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/79aeec98-c085-4663-a4e3-2493e15ca041) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T075-vzbnrA
- **2017-10-26** — The Piccadilly Lights, reborn. The single vast 2017 Piccadilly screen can show one ad or split into many — Europe's most famous digital board. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/21118389-0fd7-488f-95ef-f4c273f4278e) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zgoDojZFcc
- **2017-10-26** — The new Piccadilly Lights. In 2017 Piccadilly Circus switched to a single vast ultra-HD screen, ending a century of separate signs. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/3632666b-4fb6-4b01-9413-3d06bc554fae) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLXOG6IY-hc
- **2017-11-10** — Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The 2017 film made three roadside billboards the engine of a story — proof of the board's hold on the imagination. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/f617a7a4-e933-4b50-907d-1464c50482fb) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jit3YhGx5pU
### 2018
- **2018-01-01** — McDonald's — Follow the Arches. McDonald's 2018 'Follow the Arches' used cropped pieces of its logo as directional billboards — pure icon. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/b1acdf40-25a5-4ca9-add1-208f23d7af4b) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7qfXOqfrdg
- **2018-01-01** — The Burj Khalifa light shows. Dubai turned the world's tallest building into the world's largest billboard with vast LED light shows. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/c231cb1d-1c58-48c8-8b29-8d4c488c6321) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUvUJrkgvN0
- **2018-01-01** — Billboards that changed policy. From the Three Billboards-inspired real protests to Grenfell and #MeToo, activists reclaimed the billboard. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/dd1f0913-2392-41d4-8fc4-130481af2722) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a3V0Ej8Xw8
- **2018-01-01** — Projection and building-sized ads. Advertisers now project campaigns onto whole buildings and landmarks, turning architecture into a screen. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/e9c993fc-a036-4d15-a5bb-48d04aeb018d) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doYkJ5Y4nNs
- **2018-06-15** — 'Bil's boards' — the magazine Billboard. In 1894 a trade paper for the bill-posting industry launched as Billboard Advertising — the boards gave the magazine its name. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/1f7ea4ac-eefd-4193-a8ba-736f83e3f17c) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xXuCeOvb-w
- **2018** — Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas. Betty Willis's 1959 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign became a beloved American icon. The subject dates from 1959; this photograph was taken in 2018. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/c5905684-0d28-4607-b314-0e3cb5600f7c) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Welcome_to_fabulous_Las_Vegas.jpg
- **2018-09-09** — Nike and the Just Do It boards. Nike turned athletes into billboard-sized icons and made 'Just Do It' one of the most recognized slogans on Earth. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/7da641e7-d86b-482b-b061-04f447d3a98d) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck7mmkpxZQA
- **2018-10-22** — Lady Bird Johnson and the Highway Beautification Act. In 1965 the Highway Beautification Act, championed by Lady Bird Johnson, sought to tame the billboards along America's roads. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/6896c57b-2ddc-456c-9b71-bd2572bbb160) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l8y-zSKjUM
- **2018-12-01** — Spotify's data billboards. Spotify's witty data-driven billboards ('Dear person who played Sorry 42 times...') became a viral tradition. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/336b6b6e-e738-4f68-a2f1-c08be9046e05) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSk5hBxUvrE
### 2019
- **2019-01-01** — The world's biggest billboards. From Saudi Arabia's record-breaking boards to Dubai's building-sized screens, the billboard keeps growing. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/2eeee82c-3fb3-47e6-9257-663d9e88e54e) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxFzQ6RbB10
- **2019-01-01** — Netflix takes over the boards. As streaming boomed, Netflix and its rivals bought up whole cities of billboards to launch their shows. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/5d0f58ab-b454-40a4-afeb-99a4bf2eb8de) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPvUec0OHow
- **2019** — Burma-Shave's roadside poems. From 1927, Burma-Shave lined the highways with sequential rhyming signs — the most beloved billboards in America. The subject dates from 1927; this photograph was taken in 2019. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/0145a7ca-2217-4bdc-b39e-ead351273402) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burma_Shave_(47085480582).jpg
- **2019** — Protest and the civil-rights sign. Hand-lettered signs and boards carried the messages of the civil-rights movement into public space. The subject dates from 1968; this photograph was taken in 2019. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/40800f37-8722-48c7-b68f-273a5486cc00) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:I_Am_A_Man_monument_Memphis,_TN.jpg
- **2019** — The billboards of Route 66. The Mother Road bristled with hand-painted motel, diner and attraction signs luring travelers off the highway. The subject dates from 1950; this photograph was taken in 2019. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/76602d40-558d-4556-8fda-fcb18d1f58d2) Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Historic_Route_66,_Seligman.jpg
### 2020
- **2020-01-01** — The billboard as protest. From civil-rights messages to modern political and social campaigns, the billboard has always been a way to shout in public. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/7b4437e2-23d7-4f3b-9bb3-35625ccf4a14) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53eJ3TVRaMw
- **2020-06-15** — Mr. Peanut over Times Square. The Planters Mr. Peanut spectacular, top-hatted and monocled, tipped his hat over Times Square for decades. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/66a5a577-0db1-46a9-87d0-8fdfe194b3e8) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=achPlYRuDpM
### 2021
- **2021-07-31** — 'Guns Are Prohibited' and message boards. Public-service and message billboards — from wartime propaganda to health warnings — have long shaped opinion. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/068a0783-d39d-48ce-be68-8b1ebe46aa1b) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHo0larTqUQ
### 2022
- **2022-03-17** — FedEx — the fast-talker. FedEx's 1982 fast-talking-man ad became one of the most famous of the decade. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/cbb460c2-67bd-44b1-b0c0-5dd2ef0288c4) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPkcaLjzzkI
### 2023
- **2023-12-23** — Marlboro Country. The vast Western vistas of 'Marlboro Country' filled billboards for decades until tobacco ads were banned. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/4d6881ab-fc6e-4eb5-b433-3299d8594d47) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i55ve-4dyW8
### 2024
- **2024-06-15** — The bill posters. Before printing presses ran the world, bill posters pasted playbills and notices on every fence and wall — the original outdoor advertising. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/295666ee-a100-4490-9cf8-8ddc602afe98) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PGbdwHcMVQ
- **2024-06-15** — The standardized billboard. Around 1900 the industry standardized the poster panel, and the modern rentable billboard was born. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/32afe749-4972-417a-80e5-49cdc4a8a9e6) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgZco5Zen_c
- **2024-06-15** — The Glico Running Man, Osaka. Osaka's Glico Running Man sign, glowing over the Dotonbori canal since 1935, is one of Japan's most famous. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/a91e2f1b-01f0-42a4-b437-1ab2aa50cb2a) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw4AWnDiz0w
- **2024-07-08** — Absolut Vodka's bottle. The Absolut Vodka campaign turned a bottle shape into hundreds of witty billboards over two decades. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/0adfe0e6-898f-4b72-9b41-1853e6101b67) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CcPfNewU4g
- **2024-07-15** — The Cup Noodles steam sign. A Times Square billboard that puffed real steam from a giant noodle cup ran for years as a beloved spectacular. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/c5badcf8-3cc4-4476-88d8-72d7c1f7342c) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVTUFOLN0do
- **2024-12-05** — The first digital billboards. At the turn of the century, LED panels began replacing paper and paint — the billboard learned to change and move. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/937f6776-f68f-48b6-898e-416e0982f978) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn9HtuX_X-s
### 2025
- **2025-01-14** — Benetton's shock images. Toscani's Benetton boards — a dying AIDS patient, a newborn — made the billboard a site of moral argument. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/1ec24d07-fd68-4a07-974a-77a2c3532228) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BueBVhEmnpI
- **2025-03-29** — Benetton's shock billboards. Oliviero Toscani's United Colors of Benetton billboards courted controversy and redefined provocative advertising. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/307d7932-8c75-481f-a8d2-3eaf647f6696) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPryVnKbal8
### 2026
- **2026-04-02** — The Kodak Colorama. From 1950 the giant Kodak Colorama photos filled Grand Central Terminal — the world's largest photographs. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/f2a65443-135d-4d1d-a4c6-92546e88a362) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb4PSasBQtU
- **2026-06-08** — The roadside billboard. As Americans took to the automobile, billboards marched along every highway to catch the passing driver. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/54708874-21fb-49f0-b744-91d3b40ebbb3) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aiCdSZlqDI
- **2026-06-11** — Coca-Cola's spectaculars. Coca-Cola has owned some of the most famous billboards in history, from Times Square to painted walls worldwide. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/4b80017b-8b86-4059-8aac-53a696890cf2) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyB19ZkMfe0
- **2026-06-15** — The Neon Museum boneyard. Las Vegas's Neon Museum preserves the great dead signs of the Strip in its famous 'boneyard'. [scene](https://loreline.live/loreline/billboards/scene/9195b4b4-e998-4565-b3a6-2acb866dd6fd) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YBw_qF15CI

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73 moments · Attribution: Loreline (loreline.live) · Public contributions welcome.