Taxicabs have long served as rolling advertising venues with commercial messages on their roofs, trunks, and even on TVs inside the cab. But now comes a new taxi-related ad venue--hubcaps. In
Houston, ads for the TNT cable network telecast of the National Basketball Association's All-Star game began appearing recently on taxicab hubcaps throughout the city. "We love them. They're a
novelty. They're new," said Raymond Turner, president of Texas Taxi, parent of Yellow Cab. "We think it's an innovative way to advertise." Hubcap ads are relatively new in the U.S., but have been
rolling along overseas for a few years. Generally, hubcap advertising is $150 to $200 a month per taxi, although rates can differ according to city and client. Ian Klassen, president of
Vancouver-based Ad Fleet, the company that markets the BigWheel hubcap ad displays used by Yellow Cab in Texas, started the business after seeing a similar taxi ad display in Singapore a few years
ago. He obtained the rights to use his own hubcap display technology, which includes a pendulum to keep the ad upright as the wheel turns, in the U.S. and Canada.
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