John ZurDowntown's planned football stadium could become a Las Vegas-style sea of billboards, as LA Weekly reported this week.
But we L.A. drivers already deal with billboards' landscape pollution on a daily basis.
Here's our list of the top 5 most obnoxious billboards. Let's hope the downtown stadium doesn't bring more like them…
Corner of Fairfax and Beverly.; Credit: John Zur
5. Lap-Band
Listen up image-conscious L.A.: perhaps the most superfluous billboard around town are the ones for the Lap-Band, a surgically installed adjustable gastric band that is used to treat obesity. These signs are everywhere. EVERYWHERE. A giant 1-800 number is usually accompanied by the question “Is the Lap-Band Right for You?” With sometimes as many as three Lap-Band billboards popping up simultaneously, it seems like their access to ad space could use its own gastric band wrapped around it.
Corner of Sunset Blvd. and Martel; Credit: John Zur
4. Arco
Since when has Arco gas become synonymous with quality? Sorry Arco, but you're still nothing more than an institute contributing to the war on green peace. This billboard — which also comes in Spanish — may be trying to reach the masses, but they're doing so based on the premise we actually care about gas stations.
At Sunset Blvd. and North Crescent Heights Blvd.; Credit: John Zur
3. MTV Music Video Awards with Lil Wayne
Is there anything more culturally irresponsible than using Lil Wayne's mug as the face of anything, let alone MTV's awards? His laundry list of known criminal offenses includes possession of a weapon and marijuana, possession of narcotic drugs for sale, possession of dangerous drugs and misconduct involving weapons and possession of drug paraphernalia. Not to mention, he has the face of childhood nightmares and a grill whose reflection causes traffic accidents. Bad choice, MTV. We can hear Lil Wayne's nails-on-a-chalkboard voice as we see this billboard.
2. Gravity Defyer
These shoes are being advertised as “on steroids.” In the age of MLB drug testing, how is anything on steroids marketable? Sneakers so ugly the company has to offer a free 30-day trial before you pay, they're either the next craze in footwear or an unsightly product whose laughable ad will fade away.
Venice Blvd. and Hughes; Credit: John Zur
1. Dodgers
Trying to rekindle the magic of Dodger yesteryear, a time when the they were actually a relevant Major League Baseball franchise — the 1980s — they've tossed billboards up with likenesses of Kirk Gibson and Fernando Valenzuela, with slogans such as “It's time for magic.” It'll take a lot more than magic to get Frank McCourt divorced from the Dodgers and a real team on the field. Until then, these billboards are just as lousy as the prices to see a losing team play.
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