Advertisers face censure for flyposting
Blue chip advertisers including Levi’s, BBC Radio 1 and Whitbread have been warned that they could face legal action for running illegal flyposting campaigns after they appeared in a brochure for a London flyposting outfit.
It is understood that legitimate poster contractors have written to the senior management of these companies after they and others, including French Connection, Sega, Caterpillar, EMAP, Buena Vista and Ericsson, were cited as clients which have used the services of Diabolical Liberties.
Poster contractors and their trade body the Outdoor Advertising Association are concerned about the activities of Diabolical Liberties and others like it, because they fear they are acting illegally. Flyposting campaigns can be attractive to advertisers because they are a cheap and effective way of reaching the elusive youth market.
Flyposters are put up without local authority planning permission, and sometimes are deliberately pasted over legitimate billboard advertising. Under these circumstances, the billboard contractor can take legal action against the advertiser and flyposting company.
Outdoor Advertising Association chairman Matthew Carrington says: “Quite often senior company managers are not even aware that their agencies are using flyposting. That’s why it’s worth writing to the very top.”
Diabolical Liberties head of marketing Simon Stanford says: “Flyposting has been going on for hundreds of years. If we didn’t do it someone else would. The whole reason advertisers use flyposting is because it reaches areas they couldn’t usually target.”
