On your daily commute to work, you might see FX's billboard advertising the Justified series and the next day it's Tillamook's, "The Love Loaf Tour" ad. How did that happen? Very carefully! It takes a strong crew strapped in for safety, a couple trucks, one crane, a ladder, and lots of skill, balance and expertise.
Check out this copy change taking place in Los Angeles, CA! The crew arrived before the sun rose in trucks carrying both used and new billboards. The billboard vinyls all look the same when rolled up, with the white side out. They are carefully identified by a hang tag with a description of the copy. The crew put their safety harnesses on and began the long trek up the ladder to the structure and its platform. Once on the platform, they unclipped the vinyl to free it from the structure. A crane sent up the empty spool for the used billboard vinyl to be rolled onto. The two crew members carefully rolled the 48 ' long piece of vinyl onto the spool. A second spool was hoisted up which contained the new billboard copy. The crane moves slowly unrolling the vinyl while one crew member was at the very top of the structure, and the second crew member was 14 feet below him on the platform. They worked together to carefully unroll the new billboard so it was straight and wrinkle-free. The final step is to secure the edges around the backside of the structure with steel rods. There is no glue applied. If you look closely you can see the old "Got Milk" ad that was glued down many years ago and now permanently resides on this structure.
From start to finish this process take about an hour. It was very interesting to watch, but since I'm afraid of heights, I was happy to watch these professionals from the ground through my zoom lens!
