I say it’s time to ban the banners already
Don McGee
It seems a banner brouhaha has been born. At least that is the way
one paper has headlined the bedlam. I, for one, see no “ha-ha” in the
situation.
If What A Lot A Pizza’s banners flutter for three hours a day, 100
days a year? That means the planes towing this banners will fly over
my residence approximately
1,800 times this year. How’s that for luck? How’s that for
overkill? The owner of this chain of pizza parlors says “It’s not my
banners I’m concerned about, it’s everybody’s banners.”
What A Lotta bologna! One thing is certain, he is obviously not
concerned about the community’s peace and quiet, only his own selfish
bottom line. Another certainty is that it takes a special kind of
inconsiderate person to utilize a form of marketing that is an
invasion of privacy and an obnoxious form of pollution (air and
noise).
Each summer the annual blitzkrieg waged by the air force of
avarice gets larger and noisier and yet in the past, few have been
moved to action. This year is different though, as more people are
becoming less tolerant of this unwarranted assault on our
sensibilities. Banner towing planes are a nuisance that not only
pollute the air with noxious fumes, but also with visual clutter and
most of all, noise. This form of advertising, once considered unique
and entertaining (many decades ago), has become old hat and as
annoying as re-runs of Wally George.
There are those who plunk down a fair size chunk of change to stay
at the sea-side hotels here only to be bombarded mercilessly by
flying billboards with obscure messages such as “have sand in your
crack?” or “if you had it last night -- smile.”
Not exactly wholesome thoughts for those from America’s heartland
to further their vision of a decadent Southern California.
The latest abomination reported is a banner by some group of
anti-choice people replete with graphic depiction of an aborted
fetus. The
line has been crossed and there are those among us that are
increasingly irritated by
this abuse of an outdated marketing tool. I live one
mile from the ocean and am cursed with being directly under the
flyover zone that these planes take upon embarking on another run at
the beach.
I and my neighbors, who have one or more of these exhibitionists
droning over our residences every five minutes of every weekend of
every summer, deserve a reprieve. Residing under the flight path of
these banner jockeys is excruciating and can be likened to the
infamous Chinese water torture -- and enough is enough is enough is
enough -- is way too much. The numbers of these irritants escalates
each summer, increasing the odds of a collision or malfunction or
fill in the blank -drunk, out of gas, asleep, etc.
The good news is that Councilwoman Connie Boardman has initiated
an action that may result in an ordinance to curtail this travesty.
Hopefully in the near future we can rid ourselves of this abhorrent
practice and regain a modicum of tranquillity.
Any resulting action produced can only help in alleviating this
intolerable situation and will be a welcome sign of caring for those
who have suffered in silence for far too long. Other cities are
beginning to see the insanity of this form of marketing and are
contemplating measures to curb the activity and I welcome this city’s
input because the time is right and it is the right thing to do.
* DON MCGEE is a Huntington Beach resident. To contribute to
Sounding Off fax us at (714) 965-7174 or e-mail us at
hbindy@latimes.com
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