A Brief History of Outdoor Advertising

Outdoor advertising isn’t new. People have been using public space to grab attention since ancient merchants painted ads on stone walls or hung up signs in the town square. Fast forward a few thousand years and you’ve got LED billboards lighting up Times Square and branded scooters zipping through LA.

But the playbook hasn’t really changed:
Be where the people are. Get noticed. Stick in their heads.

That’s the core of Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising—and it still works. While digital ads get scrolled past, skipped, or blocked entirely, outdoor ads demand attention just by showing up in the real world.

Why OOH Still Works (Maybe Better Than Ever)

You Can’t Scroll Past a Billboard
Whether it’s on a bus shelter, the side of a building, or a porta potty at a music festival, real-world ads get seen. No skip button. No pop-up blockers. Just eyeballs and a message.

Right Place, Right People
OOH shines when it’s placed where the audience actually is. That means ads at job sites, trails, events, or venues—reaching people in context, not just in a browser tab.

It Sticks
Good outdoor ads are memorable. They interrupt routines in the physical world, where attention is scarce—but real. That’s why they’re often shared, talked about, and remembered.

Surprisingly Cost-Effective
Dollar for dollar, the cost per impression of outdoor advertising is often lower than digital—especially when you factor in how hard it is to get noticed online anymore.

From Stone Walls to Porta Potties

Today, BitBoard is reinventing OOH for a new era—bringing real-world ads to overlooked but highly effective spots: porta potties at construction sites, festivals, parks, and races.

It’s a weird idea. That’s the point.

Because while everyone else is fighting for pixels on phones, we’re helping brands win real, undivided attention in the places no one else thought to look—but everyone ends up seeing.

This is OOH advertising with audience relevance, no ad clutter, and actual engagement time.