The Pulse Magazine

Dear copywriters, make real friends

Billboard banter has turned into a marketing echo chamber. Leena Gupta of Talented dissects how outdoor advertising lost its real-world relevance, how clever brand banter morphed into billboard cosplay, and what copywriters can do to bring it back.

Social Samosa

22 May 2025 15:04 IST

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There was a time when billboards were simple.

Loud. Bossy. Tacky, maybe. But honest.

They’d shout at you from across the highway: BUY SOAP. SHOP SAREES. GET A BETTER LIFE. And you, stuck in traffic with the sun in your eyes and AC on blast, would nod along. Fair enough.

But then brands got ideas.

Suddenly, the billboard wasn’t just a billboard — it was a stage.

A dating app. A group chat. A place for brands to @ each other in public.

Enter: Billboard Banter.

It started sometime in the 1960s with Coke and popcorn. The original power couple of the silver screen. One is always there for the other. No taglines, no one-upmanship- it was brand adjacency before the term even existed.

Fast forward a few decades, and things have taken a... turn.

Dear copywriters, make real friends

Billboard banter has turned into a marketing echo chamber. Leena Gupta of Talented dissects how outdoor advertising lost its real-world relevance, how clever brand banter morphed into billboard cosplay, and what copywriters can do to bring it back.

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