Normal: Your Ad Here!

Cash-strapped states have started selling ad space on school buses, in school cafeterias, on campus parking lots, on school web sites, in prison holding areas, and in the waiting area at the DMV. It's one way to generate revenue.

Ah, I can see it now: at Normal Town Council meetings, the Council member who gives the introduction to the meeting (for the cable broadcast) will announce who is sponsoring that meeting ("This meeting brought to you by Hank's Barbershop -- we're hair for you!"), there will be advertising signs posted on the front of the table where the meeting members sit, and ads will scroll across the bottom of the screen. There could even be product placement at the meetings (cans of soft drinks sitting with their logos facing the camera with occasional close-ups of the cans).

Local parks could have ads on or inside the bathrooms, town vehicles could have ads on them, and the town's website (soon to be updated) could have ads on it. It's not so far-fetched when you realize that we already have bird heads stenciled on the streets and an ISU redbird painted on a water tower. Those are government properties that are being used to promote ISU. Advertising is everywhere and we've come to accept it.

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