Ads etched in sand hit Mainland beaches
USA Today
Associated Press
If you're a beachgoer on the Mainland these days, one thing is virtually inescapable: more ads in more places at the beach than ever.
Visitors to the beach will see more advertising in more places this year, including stamped into a freshly cleaned beach as shown on this New Jersey shore. Companies believe beachgoers are uniquely susceptible to advertisements and may recall — and even reflect — on the commercial messages they see at the beach.
It's not as if there's some lack of ad space available elsewhere. There is, simply, a lot less commercial competition for eyeballs at the beach.
What's more, media buyers say, the beach is a place where clear-headed consumers can sometimes remember — and occasionally even reflect upon — ads they see.
And this Memorial Day weekend, some beachgoers, mostly in New Jersey, will find beach ads etched in a place few have seen used for ads before: the sand.
They come compliments of Beach 'n Billboard, a company that specializes in imprinting thousands upon thousands of commercial messages in the sand. The imprinting devices are special contraptions that attach to beach-cleaning equipment. Besides cleaning the beach, the machinery leaves commercial imprints as it plows down the sand.
"We understand that not everyone likes the idea of commercialism at the beach," said Eric Zemsky, sales director at Beach 'n Billboard. "That's why we only do this at commercial beaches with boardwalks or piers."
Among these beaches: Seaside Heights, N.J., and Silver Beach, Mich. The firm also is negotiating with officials in a spring break outpost, South Padre Island, Texas.
