Letter: Billboards are too beneficial to ban

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration billboard promoting seatbelt use. | Ken Klein

A guest column published by the Deseret News (“Is it time for Utah to ban billboards?”, Oct. 13), calling for a billboard ban, raises important issues about constitutional freedoms and corporate responsibility.

Yes, people debate about billboards, but most everyone can agree on these principles:

• Good corporate citizens try to solve problems.

Over time, American attitudes about seatbelts and drunk driving have changed: Most passengers now buckle up, and drunk driving is not cool.

Many change agents pushed this shift, including public safety billboards. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration now uses “digital” billboards on behalf of safety.

Law enforcement and emergency authorities rely on billboards to find fugitives and communicate with the public.

In Utah, Reagan Outdoor Advertising donated thousands of dollars in digital (electronic) billboard space to promote COVID-19 testing on the Navajo Nation. The outdoor advertising industry in Utah routinely provides pro bono space to community organizations such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Buddhist temple and the Urban Indian Center.

• Innovation drives our economy.

Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO) was founded 100 years ago by an immigrant who hand-painted signs in Ogden. YESCO is now a tech leader in lighting, engineering and signage.

Signs once painted by hand are activated by computers. The ability to change messages quickly helps advertisers and communities.

After the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping in 2002, printed billboards were posted to seek tips and advertise the reward for her return. By 2008, Amber Alerts were transmitted quickly to digital billboards.

• Banning legal business is extreme.

Regulation of business is the norm, not government bans. The billboard industry supports regulation.

Most Americans agree that regulation is preferable to arbitrary government banishment of legal businesses. If you accept bans as legitimate government policy, then you should ask “who’s next?”

Patrick O’Donnell and Dewey Reagan

Salt Lake City

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