If shelling out $70, $80, $100 or more for a fill-up at the gas pump has you looking around for ways to cut the cost of your commute, then autowrap advertising may be for you.
The idea isn’t new. The idea of paying people to put advertising on their private vehicle has been around since the 1980’s. But it attracted new interest in 1993 when Pepsico took advantage of improved techniques for printing colorful vinyl wrappers and applying them to cars, trucks and busses. Pepsico made an advertising splash when it paid to have city busses wrapped in its colorful advertising.
But except for public transit—we expect you’ve seen these wrappers gracing the exterior of city busses—there wasn’t exactly a huge amount of interest. The vinyl wrappers can turn any vehicle into a vivid rolling billboard; an idea entrepreneurs expected both advertisers and auto owners to rapidly embrace. But advertisers naturally wanted their ads shown on nicer cars owned by people who shop in nicer places—and it turns out a lot of people who own nicer cars didn’t want the beauty of their vehicle obscured by advertising.
High gas prices, however, may be turning that situation around. Companies offering to pay drivers to display colorful vinyl advertising can be found all over the world, with the heaviest concentration in the United States and Canada. And as gas prices have begun to climb, so have the numbers of these companies.
New businesses have been popping up in cities like Houston, San Francisco, New York and Phoenix, challenging older, established businesses for what they believe will be a bigger market of gas-poor drivers finally willing to deface their ride with advertising displays for everything from sun tan lotion to ice cream.
Actually, ads can promote anything from products to events to political candidates. Because the vinyl cling wraps can be easily removed and don’t damage the finish of the vehicle, they can be swapped out as easily as paper posters are replaced on roadside billboards.
One word of warning—some wrap companies say their vinyls are removed with heat and solvents which will not damage METAL panels. If you drive a Smart car or other vehicle with non-metal panels, double-check the facts with both the wrap manufacturer and your auto dealer before committing to a vinyl covering for your vehicle.
Depending on what’s available in your area—and what local laws have to say—you may choose between covering just the rear window of your car or truck, or covering the entire exterior. What you might be paid is all over the place. Payment for wrapping a whole vehicle ranges from $300 to $800 a month, depending on a number of factors, including how much of your vehicle becomes a billboard. Drivers in Houston can get $400 a month, for instance, just for turning their rear window into an advertisement.
For that, the motorist must agree to drive an agreed-upon number of miles in a month or a year. And they must often abide by some rules of behavior. Drinking and driving is, of course, verboten, but sometimes so is just parking outside an establishment that serves only liquor. Sometimes motorists must agree to engage in some additional merchandising, such as handing out samples or brochures. And it goes without saying that advertisers expect drivers to conduct themselves in a way that reflects well on the product they’re advertising.
If you can live with that for the prospect of getting someone else to pay for your gas, then on-vehicle advertising may be for you. You’ll have the best chance to get involved if you live in a big city or near a college campus. You’ll need to be over 18, have a clean driving record and own a clean vehicle that’s less than 5 years old. And you’ll need patience and persistence, as most agencies we spoke to tell us they now have waiting lists of drivers who want in on the program.
To find legitimate companies in your location, ask around at auto dealerships for companies that do vinyl wrapping. They’ll know who’s advertising and who’s hiring. Be sure you’re dealing directly with the company doing the hiring. Beware of internet websites offering to line you up with advertisers for a fee.
Such sites usually claim to be a database for advertisers desperately looking for people wiling to advertise on their vehicle. Some offer free sign-ups, then encourage you to pay for a “premium” listing that will move you higher up on the waiting list. Don’t do it. Many of these sites are outright scams that will do little or nothing except take your money.
The fact is, legitimate companies have no trouble coming up with motorists who want to advertise, and they won’t charge you one cent for the chance to get on their waiting list. L.A. based ad agency FreeCar Media does business in 11 cities and says it has a list of more than a million car owners willing to wrap their vehicle for a fee. Last year they hired more than 7,000 of them.
If rolling around in a giant ad is not something you fancy, how about converting your car to use water as well as gasoline. Click Here to find out how.
