Aerial advertising is a form of advertising that incorporates the use of flogos, manned aircraft, or drones to create, transport, or display, advertising media. The media can be static, such as a banner, logo, lighted sign or sponsorship branding. It can also be dynamic, such as animated lighted signage, skywriting, or audio.
Prior to World War II, aviation pioneer Arnold Sidney Butler, the owner and operator of Daniel Webster Airport (New Hampshire) utilizing his fleet of J3 Cubs, created banner towing and was credited with a number of inventions and aircraft modifications used to pick up and release banners. At the start of World War II, the government took over the airstrip for military training. Afterward, Butler moved his aircraft to Florida and formed Circle-A Aviation where he continued his banner towing business. Still today, many of his aircraft remain in service and can be seen in the skies over Miami and Hollywood, Florida.
Aerial advertising is perceived by marketing strategists as effective if a large target audience is gathered near the source of advertising, although media studies scholars tend to nuance those claims. Ghislain Thibault Celestial Apparitions: Media-machine, Broadcasting and Aerial Advertising, Media Theory Journal, volume 5, no. 2, 2022, pp. 99-122, and Celestial Posters: Skywriting and the Folk Theory of Media Influence. Communicative Figurations, no. 37. pp.1-13, 2020.
Balloons, skywriting, and banner towing are usually strategically located. Long-range vehicles such as blimps and flogos can reach a broader audience along their flight route. Secondary distribution such as news media coverage, word of mouth and photos of aerial advertising can reach an extended audience. Due to safety, privacy, and aesthetic reasons, the ability to perform aerial advertising is regulated by local and federal entities throughout the world.
Employment methods
Mobile billboard
Advertising can be carried on the envelope or livery of the aircraft, or in the case of balloons, the envelope can be constructed into a specific shape to advertise a product.
Sky Sign Inc. created, patented and holds various STC's for their aerial LED-based signs. These signs attach to rotorcraft and fixed wing aircraft.
Banner towing
Banner towing is a form of skywriting where a banner is towed or dragged behind an aircraft. Since a banner produces a large amount of aerodynamic drag, the airspeed of the towing aircraft is kept low in order to minimize the amount of power required.
The banner itself can be of three types:
Standard letters Banners using standard letters consist of a series of either 5-foot-high or 7-foot-high letters connected together by joints designed for interchangeability. Standard letters have been the predominant form of banner towing for the past decades.
7-foot letters have the advantage of greater readability over a long distance, but incur a large drag penalty on the towing aircraft. 5-foot letters, on the other hand, trade off some readability for the ability of the towing aircraft to tow longer messages.
A typical light aircraft is able to tow 25 7-foot letters or 35 5-foot letters.
Advantages of standard letters are readability over a large distance and flexibility. The letters being prefabricated means they can be made into messages with very short notice and can be changed easily after each flight.
Aerial billboards Aerial billboards are a relatively new form of banner towing. They usually consist of a large area of nylon cloth and are similar in weight to a spinnaker on a sailing boat. This blank canvas allows vivid pictures to be digitally printed and towed either behind an aircraft or below a helicopter.
Helicopter billboards tend to be square in shape to prevent the top corner sagging and becoming unreadable.
Aircraft-towed billboards tend to be rectangular; usually 1 high to 3 long but sizes of 1 high to 4 long are becoming the norm.
The main advantage of aerial billboards is their visual impact. When banner towing using helicopters, they are much better suited for that use than standard letters are. The disadvantages of aerial billboards are that once painted or printed they cannot be changed as quickly or easily as standard letters. Additionally, they take considerably longer to produce than standard letters.
Logo banners This form of banner-towing combines aerial billboards with standard letters to produce a banner that incorporates both types, bringing the "blank canvas" of aerial billboards together with the flexibility of standard letters. Commonly, an intermediate-sized area of nylon cloth is placed at the front of a banner which is then followed by standard letters.
This technique is most often used to advertise a brand, but can also be used as a marriage proposal or party invitation.
Flogos
Flogos (portmanteau of "floating“ and "logos“) are customizable motifs made out of a stable mass of lighter-than-air soap-based bubbles formed into a specific shape. They are a type of "foam balloon" suitable for both outdoor and indoor use, and float in the air once released. They are produced by specialized mobile machines which first combine a patented foam fluid with water and helium to make the foam. The generated foam then gets pressed through a stencil which will determine its individual shape. The machines which produce Flogos are produced and sold by Global Special Effects, who also own the Flogos name and specific concept. Flogos are often customized to suit needs and can be any number of shapes, logos, symbols, letters, and words, which is the reason why they are often linked to aerial advertising, or "Skyvertising".
Sky-writing Sky-writing by fixed-wing aircraft, combined with the use of a vapor projector, remains popular with major advertisers. It is most effective in brand awareness with short, dramatic messages and occasionally for "spectaculars" such as marriage proposals. The practice of sky-writing is known to be one of the safest forms of flying, as it is only done in clear skies with smooth air (winds can be strong but smooth) and usually in controlled airspace, where radar separation is provided between planes.
Type of aircraft used
Aerostats
Aerostats are effective carriers of mobile billboards due to their slow speed, long loiter time and inexpensive fuel costs. The first British airship, built by Stanley Spencer in 1902, was funded by an advertisement for baby food carried on its envelope.Duke, Neville and Lanchbery, Edward (1959) The Crowded Sky: an anthology of flight from the beginnings to the age of the guided missile, Cassel (p. 47)
Research from the United States suggests that the direct cost of balloon advertising "per thousand opportunities to see" is lower than for newspapers, posters, radio or television.
Fixed-wing aircraft The most common type of fixed-wing aircraft used for mobile billboards and aerial advertising are single reciprocating engine aircraft, such as converted crop dusters. While on the ground, operators attach a grapple hook and a towline to the rear of the aircraft. Once in flight, the operator comes back and links the grapple hook to the banner, billboard, or streamer while in flight. The wind resistance created during the natural course of flight causes the banner to stream out behind the aircraft, allowing it to be easily seen by those nearby.
Because of the relatively low speed and altitude ceiling of propeller aircraft, this type is generally favored for the deployment of mobile billboards when fixed-wing aircraft are used. All metropolitan areas in the U.S. can be serviced except New York City and Washington, D.C. which have restricted airspace.
In the 1950s banner-towing started to become widely used as a cost-effective way of bringing a message to the attention of targeted groups of people. There were very few restrictions, the airspace was not nearly as tightly regulated as today. VFR traffic, meaning aircraft navigating solely by visual reference, could even fly into some major airports without using two-way radio, using special air corridors and getting landing, take-off, and taxi instructions by coloured light signals using an "Aldis" lamp from the control tower.
The Dutch charter airline Martinair, now part of the air-cargo arm of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, was founded in the 1950s by Martin Schroeder, a former Dutch Air force pilot, as a company using tethered balloons and banners. The towing aircraft used were DH 82a Tiger Moth, written off as primary trainers, and the occasional Auster. The company later set up an air charter operation at Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport. The first aircraft were a Cessna 172 (PH-MAF) and a De Havilland Dove. Later expansion followed and the company split into the charter company, called "Martin's Air Charter", later Martinair and the light aircraft division, called "Luchtreclame Nederland" based at Hilversum Aerodrome. It was later renamed "Reclamair", moved to Lelystad in the 1970s and expanded into a flying school and restaurant.
The previous is to illustrate that aerial advertising was big business then, and could grow into a much bigger operation. A parallel can be found in Germany, where a banner-towing company grew into a much larger operation. At Essen-Muelheim a company called "Westdeutsche Luftwerbung Theodor Wuellenkemper KG" became "WDL Flugdienst" with main operations based at Cologne-Bonn.
The aircraft: Although there are various types of aircraft suitable for banner-towing they have to have stable flying characteristics, sufficient power to overcome the substantial drag created by a banner streaming behind the aircraft and they must be equipped with a quick-release hook at the tail. Needless to say, they must be approved for towing operations by the civil aviation authorities. In the 1950s Tiger Moths were cheap and dominated the scene in the Netherlands, but the occasional surviving Fieseler Storch was also very suitable. These aircraft now are priceless classics. Current types are Piper PA18 Super Cub, Vilga, Cessna 172 and others like Morane-Saulnier Rallye, Aeronca Champion, etc. Often these aircraft, when not in use for banner-towing, are used for towing gliders. Some crop dusters are equipped with a hook for towing operations. Nowadays we find that many are turboprop, or diesel powered. Even a twin-engine Dornier D28 has been seen towing a banner. For towing, a grapple hook is attached. Mostly it is in the pilot's lap for take-off. It will be thrown out and door or canopy closed. The Super Cub door has a top and bottom half and the pilot could close it after take-off. The C172 door hinges forward. The pilot has to throw the grapnel out of the window, but the 172 often has a second quick-release under the belly. The hook is attached and released after getting airborne. If the pilot makes a mistake, (s)he will only have a line trailing from the aircraft with the grapple hanging under the belly. The only solution is to land, rectify it and take off again, hoping not too many spectators will have noticed.
The grapple (or grapnel) resembles a three-pronged anchor. But the prongs are rounded and bent back towards the stock. This design prevents the grapple digging into the ground in the event that the aircraft makes its run-in a bit low. And it will also reduce the risk of the loop, about which later, slipping off.
For the pick-up, the banner will be spread on the ground. There are two main types: One, a large poster. Not seldom 3 or 4 metres square. Often sewn by professional sail makers using pieces of parachute- or spinnaker nylon in different colours. They may represent a tube of toothpaste, a bottle, a company logo. Expensive to manufacture, they are mainly used for long-term contracts. The other type, more often used, is a text, a streamer as a rule made up of interchangeable letters, mainly black and sometimes red if emphasis is required.