That would harm the small businesses along the interstate as well as the tourist industry, said Tony Adams, executive director of the N.C. Outdoor Advertising Association. Adams expressed concern that the proposed ban on I-40 was the first step in a campaign to eliminate billboards statewide. He predicted that if a permanent moratorium passed, advocates would be back next year with proposals to ban billboards on all interstates in the state. Adams said billboards helped small businesses attract customers, brought tourism to small towns and carried public service messages. He said the argument that billboards were a blight was subjective.
Some billboards are average looking.
Some billboards are unattractive. And some billboards are breathtakingly gorgeous. Monique Faust, promotions director for the Battleship North Carolina, said about 40 percent of the battleship's advertising budget goes for 13 billboards in the Carolinas. Faust said the battleship had one billboard on Interstate 40 and would like to have another. It's very hard to find an open one.