Why the billboard industry is getting behind this Oscar contender

GRAND RAPIDS - The billboard industry is stepping up to promote a film that features billboards during awards season.

Martin McDonagh's "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" is up for seven Oscars, after sweeping the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild awards and the Baftas, the British version of the Oscars.

The film stars Frances McDormand as a grieving mother who uses billboards to push the police chief, played by Woody Harrelson, to focus on solving the murder of her daughter.

The national trade group for billboards, Outdoor Advertising Association of America, tapped the Grand Rapids ad agency Extra Credit Projects to design billboards that would cheer for the billboard movie during the 2018 awards season.

"As long-time billboard ambassadors, we felt this was a great way to highlight the simplicity, relevance, and effectiveness of the outdoor medium," said Rob Jackson, ECP's creative director and principal, in a statement.

Promotional billboards designed by ECP appeared nationwide, including in Times Square, Los Angeles and western North Carolina, where the movie was filmed.

At first, these billboards said "THIS BILLBOARD DESERVES AN AWARD," imitating the all-caps black-on-red design used in the movie.

The billboards changed messages as the film gained critical acclaim. After the Golden Globe show on Jan. 7, the new text read: "FOUR GOLDEN GLOBES OUTSIDE HOLLYWOOD."

When Academy Award nominations were announced Jan. 23, the billboards declared: "THIS BILLBOARD DESERVES AN OSCAR." Depending on the outcome of the Academy Awards on March 4, ECP is ready with new copy for high-tech electronic billboards in Los Angeles and Times Square, which may feature video.

The promotional billboards are generating a lot of global media attention at high-traffic news sites which shows the relevancy of the medium, said Rick Robinson, managing partner of the Billups ad agency who assisted the billboard-promotion campaign.

"This illustrates billboards as cultural currency," Robinson said.

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