The SCREENS.tv Blog

Have the Loonies taken over the asylum? (4)

 

Is this the future of digital signage? According to 2000AD’s Judge Dredd storyline, at the dawn of the 22^nd Century, adverts will be beamed onto the surface of the moon, creating the world’s largest billboard. Actually, scratch that. You can hardly call it ‘the world’s largest’ when it isn’t even on the planet... Naturally, not everyone is impressed. After all, how can you gaze at the light of the moon and tell your partner you love her when our silvery satellite is emblazoned with an advert for breakfast cereal? In Dredd’s world advertising on the moon is limited to six hours a week for this very reason, but that’s not enough for a sinister cult called The Loonies, who claim their god has been defiled and take violent direct action against the proprietors of Moonray Tower.

Far-fetched? Perhaps, but bear this in mind. The Dredd story in question (Loonies’ Moon from 2000AD Prog 192, fact fans) was published in 1980. Almost two decades later, in 1999, a 60ft high nude Gail Porter was beamed onto the Palace of Westminster in an advert for lads' mag FHM, to much protest from our own cult of loonies, The Daily Mail. Maybe beaming advertising onto the moon isn’t such a daft idea after all. I bet Bill’s already bought a prime slot to plug Windows 2100…

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