Here's How Much Businesses Pay To Get On Those Big Blue Exit Signs

June 14, 2017 10:59 AM

Drive down any major interstate in the U.S., and you’ll see big blue signs decorated with business logos near most exits. Here’s who decides which businesses make it on the signs, and how much it all costs.

posted by Etrigan (40 comments total)

Man, I thought that was going to be crazy, but approx $1000 bucks a year to be on the sign both ways on a huge highway? And it goes to the state, not an ad firm? That seems super reasonable to me. The article acts a bit breathless about the pricing, but it seems like the only convoluted part of the whole operation is the state requirements for what kind of businesses can be on the signs. $80 a month for all those extra eyeballs is a great deal.
posted by phunniemee at 11:11 AM on June 14, 2017 [41 favorites]

Great article, thanks. These were life savers before cell phones.
posted by Melismata at 11:14 AM on June 14, 2017 [7 favorites]

Hah, I was wondering if they'd cover Interstate Logos, the company that serves 23 states in the US.

I had to dig around to find out that information for New Mexico, where it seemed the Department of Transportation (DOT) used to do this, and less than $200 per sign. Now the DOT may make more money, considering that could receive around 35% of that $1,000+ fee, and they used to charge around 15% of the current rental fee, but in this state, a lot of the blue signs are empty and faded, implying that there's nothing available in that town. So most new signs are for chains, which is fine if you want consistency in your restaurants, but fails to identify local businesses.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:32 AM on June 14, 2017

I expected the rates to be at least 10 times what they are, if not more on major highways like I-95. Advertising like that, even in this day and age with gps on my phone, has made many a road trip easier for me.
posted by jenjenc at 11:32 AM on June 14, 2017 [5 favorites]

Advertising like that, even in this day and age with gps on my phone, has made many a road trip easier for me.

How these places earn my money:

-Heck, need to pee.
-Can't check my phone when I'm driving.
-Ooh, a McDonalds at the next exit.
-Might as well get a sweet tea while I'm here.
[40 mins later]
-Heck, need to pee.
&c
posted by phunniemee at 11:37 AM on June 14, 2017 [44 favorites]

For those without GPS and who always wonder "Well, yeah, there's a Waffle House off the next exit, but is there something better up ahead?"[1], there's an annually-or-so updated travel book, _The Next Exit_, that lists all of the things available off every exit of the US interstate highway system.

[1] No. There's nothing better than Waffle House. GO TO WAFFLE HOUSE.
posted by hanov3r at 11:43 AM on June 14, 2017 [28 favorites]

Also, there's a Waffle House at every exit. (Yes, there are less Waffle Houses in less populated places, but there are also less exits, so it works out.)
posted by madcaptenor at 11:46 AM on June 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

Add me to the list of folks who thought it would be way more expensive.

madcaptenor: Only south of the Waffle House / IHOP line in the US.
posted by rmd1023 at 11:52 AM on June 14, 2017 [9 favorites]

I actually appreciate all the regulations about open hours, public restrooms, and the like. If you're gonna get that much of a screaming deal for advertising to your main customer base (my company spends more than that on a single Facebook ad campaign), you *should* have to have reasonable hours of operation and I should be able to pee or make a phone call or get some water or whatever.
posted by misskaz at 11:53 AM on June 14, 2017 [8 favorites]

madcaptenor: Only south of the Waffle House / IHOP line in the US.

I live where there are the most Waffle Houses, so perhaps my perceptions are a bit skewed.

(When we moved into our house and met the next-door neighbors, the girl who lives next door informed us where Waffle House was. She's also my Girl Scout cookie dealer.)
posted by madcaptenor at 11:59 AM on June 14, 2017

there's an annually-or-so updated travel book, _The Next Exit_, that lists all of the things available off every exit of the US interstate highway system.

If you're driving through Indiana on the toll road this summer, just throw the book out the window. They've ripped up and closed a huge number of rest stops AND entire exits for the summer. It's a goddamned nightmare.
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:59 AM on June 14, 2017 [2 favorites]

Wow, add that to the list of things I didn't know I wanted to know until I read them. Fascinating, and really inexpensive!

However, I'd be pretty pissy about a sign that told me I'd be driving SIX FUCKING MILES off the interstate for gas. I'm not sure I've ever gone more than 1.5 and that's always when the interstate abuts a river or has a weirdly placed mountain so the exit is awkward.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:11 PM on June 14, 2017 [8 favorites]

MetaFilter: It's a goddamned nightmare.
posted by Wordshore at 12:13 PM on June 14, 2017 [3 favorites]

there's an annually-or-so updated travel book, _The Next Exit_,

Also an iOS app, although there doesn't appear to be one for Android. On the other hand, Google Maps probably covers that function fairly well (assuming you can get a damn signal).
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:25 PM on June 14, 2017 [2 favorites]

I have driven across the US 6 times, I have been to the well-advertised (via private signs) Wall Drug but I have never seen a pharmacy advertised on one of these blue signs. Kinda surprised there are specs & requirements specifically for pharmacies.
posted by GuyZero at 12:47 PM on June 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

Google Maps probably covers that function fairly well (assuming you can get a damn signal).

If you know you're going to be in an area for at least a day, consider download that area onto your phone while you're on wifi, and you can search that area even when offline.
posted by numaner at 1:20 PM on June 14, 2017 [2 favorites]

Oh, right! I generally use another GPS app that lets you download maps, so I forgot GMaps does that too. Usually I only use GMaps for finding what's nearby.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:43 PM on June 14, 2017

However, I'd be pretty pissy about a sign that told me I'd be driving SIX FUCKING MILES off the interstate for gas.

Oh, yes. Driving 15-20 minutes down a dark country road (or worse, an unfamiliar urban area) in hopes that there is an open gas station there, is not an attractive option. Particularly not when you have to spend just as long getting back to the highway. What's even worse is when you get to the place to find that they've changed their hours or gone out of business. Six miles doesn't feel "close" to me.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:04 PM on June 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

At some point the AI assistant stuff will probably be good enough for me to just ask where the next X is and have it give me useful advice, but until then these signs are still pretty useful. (Given that the alternative is to try and use Maps while driving at 75 mph...)
posted by thefoxgod at 2:09 PM on June 14, 2017

My favorite is local BBQ joint which offers a VDOT Breakfast. They make no bones about advertising that they need to offer breakfast cooked on-site from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. to be on the I-95 highway sign, so they'll happily sell you three hard-boiled eggs and a cup of coffee for the low low price of $20. Or, you could just come back at noon when they actually open.
posted by whitewall at 2:10 PM on June 14, 2017 [7 favorites]

If you're driving through Indiana on the toll road this summer, just throw the book out the window. They've ripped up and closed a huge number of rest stops AND entire exits for the summer. It's a goddamned nightmare.

That's disappointing. I drove from SF to Boston and one of the roads I took was the Indiana Toll Road (I spent a night in South Bend). Those rest stops and travel plazas were the lifeblood of my journey. It would make it infinitely more inconvenient not to have those stops available.
posted by Talez at 2:20 PM on June 14, 2017

man these things are huge
posted by rebent at 2:55 PM on June 14, 2017 [5 favorites]

perhaps my perceptions are a bit skewed.

Indeed. We have one IHOP and two interstates in my entire state. I know exactly where the first Waffle House is on the trip x-country and I always stop at it. I feel like libraries should get on these signs. Free bathrooms and wifi! And billboards are illegal so these signs are all we have. Fascinating article, thank you.
posted by jessamyn at 3:34 PM on June 14, 2017 [3 favorites]

If I were Supreme Ruler, this is one of the few forms of advertising I would allow. Those signs can be godsends.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:36 PM on June 14, 2017 [3 favorites]

We have one IHOP and two interstates in my entire state

I hope your state has non-chain pancakeries. Or do you just do shots of maple syrup?
posted by madcaptenor at 3:49 PM on June 14, 2017

They've ripped up and closed a huge number of rest stops AND entire exits for the summer. It's a goddamned nightmare.

I noticed the same thing on a cross-country drive earlier this year on I-80 from CO to MI. It's a total drag.

Also, it can really fucking snow in April in Colorado.
posted by GuyZero at 3:50 PM on June 14, 2017

I hope your state has non-chain pancakeries

Yes. Here is my local.
posted by jessamyn at 4:44 PM on June 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

We have one IHOP and two interstates in my entire state.

Vermont has those brown signs, though. Of course, they're usually trying to get you to stop for teddy bears or something equally random and not food.
posted by hoyland at 5:40 PM on June 14, 2017

In my neck of the woods here in Mississippi, you ain't no real exit at all if you don't have a Waffle House for each direction. We have Waffle Houses within eye sight of each other all over the place.
posted by thebrokedown at 6:32 PM on June 14, 2017 [3 favorites]

I used to live in a small town in Virginia whose exit had a sign that included "Attractions." One of these attractions was, and I am not making this up, an old folks home.
posted by 4ster at 7:01 PM on June 14, 2017 [2 favorites]

I hope your state has non-chain pancakeries. Or do you just do shots of maple syrup?

Like in Riverdale?
posted by Margalo Epps at 8:09 PM on June 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

But Waffle Houses only come in one size, so you'll never find a Waffle House inside a Waffle House.
posted by madcaptenor at 8:17 PM on June 14, 2017

Now I want to see a Waffle Mouse next time I'm in a Waffle House.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:34 PM on June 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

> But Waffle Houses only come in one size, so you'll never find a Waffle House inside a Waffle House.

There are at least two sizes, tiny and extra-tiny, distinguished by whether there's enough room for tables between the counter and the front window.

About ten years ago, one of the Waffle Houses in Knoxville, Tennessee decided to enlarge their restaurant. They built the new one on the same property (or an adjacent property), but facing a different corner, and operated continuously: the old restaurant operated while the new one went up, and the new restaurant operated while the old one was being torn down.

It's not quite a Waffle House inside a Waffle House, but somewhere there is someone who is a regular but happened to be out of town for six months and has never figured out how the whole fucking restaurant turned ninety degrees.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 10:53 PM on June 14, 2017 [11 favorites]

I've got a 3 hour commute to my new job and about two hours in there is a multi year highway bridge construction project. At the start there is one of those huge LED signs advising that the traffic pattern has changed. Except for me it hasn't; the current configuration is all I know. Which has me wondering whether I'm supposed to watch for the removal of the sign to know when the traffic pattern has actually changed for me or whether they'll keep the sign around for a while with the message "Traffic pattern revertedl" or "traffic pattern changed, again". Not noticing will mean a risk of head on collision so I hope I notice and I'm not in highway hypnosis mode basically driving on autopilot.
posted by Mitheral at 11:09 PM on June 14, 2017 [2 favorites]

It's not quite a Waffle House inside a Waffle House, but somewhere there is someone who is a regular but happened to be out of town for six months and has never figured out how the whole fucking restaurant turned ninety degrees.

I imagine there's a similar regular who sat at the end of the counter on the one stool that was in the same place when the restaurant rotated. The pivot point stool.

"Frank, what the hell happened?"
"Whaddya talking about Bob? I been sitting here the whole time."
posted by aureliobuendia at 6:33 AM on June 15, 2017 [6 favorites]

On the 401 in Ontario, they have signs that look like they should be the equivalent, but whoever puts them up doesn't know how it's supposed to work. The sign says there is food, gas, and lodging at this exit, so you take the exit. At the top of the ramp, you find a bunch of cornfields. No services within view, and no signs saying which way or how far.

Pro tip: Get gas early, at one of the service centres. Because you can actually find them.
posted by elizilla at 6:43 AM on June 15, 2017

File these signs (and really, road tripping generally) under the the category of things that the US does really well.

I just got back from the 10 day road/camping trip from Seattle --> SF, and as the official navigator of the trip, have the following observations:

- The rest stops with the little old ladies who give you coffee are the greatest
- If you're navigating by google maps you can "search on route" and search "gas" (or "coffee", or whatever) and have the next ~5 gas stations on your route (ie, just off the highway) with the extra travel time required and their prices pop up.
- It's really hard to find a place to picnic in California (once you're past the state parks)
posted by quaking fajita at 8:32 AM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

I've always assumed the blue signs were an incentive to keep businesses from raising more billboards along the highway. That would partly explain why the fees are so small.

Kinda surprised there are specs & requirements specifically for pharmacies.

I would guess that is a hold over from the time when drug stores served food, like diners.
posted by riruro at 5:05 PM on June 15, 2017

On the other hand, Google Maps probably covers that function fairly well (assuming you can get a damn signal).

The problem with Google maps is that if you are looking for the next gas station on your route, it shows you the nearest gas station, which may be the opposite way you're headed. I swear I had some app that told you the next nearest [gas | food | etc] within a prescribed distance of your route, but I don't remember what it was.
posted by AFABulous at 11:29 AM on June 20, 2017