Aerial banners have been around since the 1930's, and are commonly used to advertise a service, product, company, or event.  They can reach large audiences that are gathered together at events such as sporting events, entertainment venues, beaches, or other high traffic areas.  Over the years, technology has changed and improved this form of unique advertising.

Aerial banners are sometimes used for personal reasons, also.  A popular personal use of aerial banners is the marriage proposal.

Types of Aerial Advertising

• Aerial Billboards/Airplane and Helicopter Banners

The most popular (and inexpensive) form of aerial advertising is the basic aerial banner.  These banners are created in house, and the company you hire will have a limit on how many characters can be used.  Some benefits of this type of aerial advertising, as opposed to others, are that more characters are typically allowed.  The banners can be colorful, and can include the company logo.  The turn around on creating the banner tends to be fairly fast.

The price of these banners will vary, depending on where you purchase from.  Often, you are charged per square foot of the banner.  Not all companies that produce the banners are equipped to fly them, so don't assume they will do everything for you!  You may need to find another company to fly the banner. 

• Night Signs

Some companies provide nighttime aerial advertising.  This is not done with a physical banner, but rather by utilizing a plane that has computerized LED lights on the bottom of it.  It can be programmed to display your message, and will fly over a targeted area.  Again, there are limits on how many characters can be used. 

• Skywriting

This type of advertising is typically one plane with a talented pilot.  This pilot utilizes the aircraft to spell out letters.  There is an extremely low limit on characters, and these services are few and far between.  Due to the limited number of companies providing this service, it tends to be expensive.

• Skytyping

Skytyping is the newest form of aerial advertising.  Instead of using one plane to present a message, it uses multiple planes.  These planes fly in a formation, and instead of maneuvering the aircraft to create a message, a computerized program puts off a series of "puffs."  The puffs appear as dots, and combine together to form characters, displaying a message for those below to see.  The number of characters is very limited.  The message typically hangs in the air for minutes at a time. Many environmentalists are opposed to this form of aerial advertising. 

More on Aerial Banners and Advertising

Aerial banners and advertising are safe.  In almost 100 years, there have been no injuries reported to pedestrians below as a result of this type of advertising. 

Permits and insurance are needed in order to utilize these services.  However, the company that you choose to work with should take care of that.  There are also laws that regulate and restrict where and when the aircraft can fly with your message. 

In general, aerial advertising is an effective way to reach large groups of people. Contact a company like Signarama for more information on different sign types.