VIDEO: Advertisements on School Buses?

By Bridget Tyler on March 19th, 2010

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Though the idea of putting advertisements on public school buses might seem outlandish, it’s been around for almost 15 years.  It tends to surfaces every time school budgets start scrapping the bottom of the barrel for funds, so it’s no surprise that it’s coming up a lot these days.  The districts that are selling the ad space say that it’s easy money in a time when every cent counts.  Besides, advertisers love nothing more than a captive audience.

Which is exactly what critics of the program have a problem with – making kids ride in ad ladened buses isn’t much better than selling ad space on chalk boards.  Of course, some schools are already selling ad space inside their schools too. Jefferson County Schools, the biggest district in Colorado, has a contract with First Bank of Colorado that is worth $500,000 over four years.  This contract entitles First Bank to logos on 100 of the districts 350 buses, and a prominent display of their logo in every high school gym in the district, on the district Web page, in district stadiums and a company announcement during sports events.

And controlling the content of the ads isn’t as easy as you’d think it would be. A Southern California highway authority recently lost their battle to keep the Minutemen militia group from getting an “adopt a highway” type advertising sign put up.  It’s a 1st Amendment issue and the same logic is likely to hold for school transportation.  What happens when parents don’t agree with the advertisements their children are being exposed to at school? “Parents who are concerned about commercial messages will have no choice,” according to Josh Colin, associate director of Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood. “Parents won’t be given the option to send their kids on the ad-free bus.”

Another big problem is that, even if you’re willing to force the kids exposure to advertising, “It’s not as large a revenue generator as you might think,” according to Mike Griffith, a policy analyst for the Education Commission of the States. The Jefferson County deal with First Bank amounts to $7 a bus per day – just a fraction of the districts $959 million budget.  Oh, and most districts actually have to hire someone new to sell their new ad space.  According to Griffith, that extra cost usually cuts profits enough to discourage adopting the policy.  But, a lot of will to try in these tough times, including Colorado, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Tennessee and Texas.