LAMAR Outdoor Advertising, acting on a whim of a local employee, has been presented an Orchid Award from Keep Knoxville Beautiful. This award is given yearly to organizations expressing sensitivity to surroundings and high standards of maintenance.
LAMAR representative, Bob Jenkins, was watching an old cartoon when the idea occurred to him. Bob points out that “When Wile E. Coyote would paint a landscape over a plain sheet of paper attempting to lure the Road Runner into hitting the wall I realized he was on to something. By painting a plain sheet of paper to blend in, it simply isn’t noticeable any longer.”
Following Wile E. Coyote’s lead LAMAR has developed a new series of ‘landscape-friendly’ billboards designed to blend in with the surroundings. All unsold billboards will now display one of these new designs. Sample designs include a mountain landscape, farmland, graveyard scenery, government assisted housing, road construction, and a mock McDonalds sign.
The 2002 Runner-Up for the Orchid Award from Keep Knoxville Beautiful was BFI Waste Management simply for getting all the garbage out of our way.
Keep Knoxville Beautiful also presents an annual Onion Award, for absence of conscious design, insensitivity to surroundings, and poor maintenance. The 2002 Onion Award has been presented to Wal-Mart for causing large numbers of ugly rednecks to congregate within their stores.