by Cindy Hennessey
There I was, driving home one night, when I saw a billboard announcing a new advertising venue: “moonvertising” or, as the name implies, the ability to beam advertising messages onto the surface of the moon.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I thought, totally incensed at the idea that something like this could happen.
I did a little research (I can’t help myself) and it turns out moonvertising is a hoax put on by Rolling Rock Beer. As the Boston Globe assured its readers, “This is viral advertising; the company isn't actually going to project a laser beam 237,000 miles into space.”
Okay, so it’s a joke. But could moonvertising be possible? Apparently, Coke tried to do it in 1999. The company’s efforts were banned by the Federal Aviation Administration, however, because the power of the lasers needed would likely cause major problems with passing aircraft.
In 1993, the U.S. company Space Marketing Inc. came up with a proposal for a 1 km2 illuminated “space billboard,” made from sheets of super-strong Mylar® polyester film, that would be launched into a low orbit, making it visible from Earth. This company’s plans were foiled, too, when it was estimated that the billboard would be impacted by space debris upwards of 10,000 times. This, along with the inability to attract adequate funding, prevented the project from progressing. Shortly thereafter, U.S. Congressman Ed Markey introduced a bill that banned all American advertising in space. This was amended by Section 70102 of Title 49 of the United States Code to only cover “obtrusive space advertising.”
I’m sorry, but could there ever be such a thing as unobtrusive space advertising?
