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Human billboards and sandwich board advertising
Updated photos of London street life
(Photos © urban75, 30th January 2010, updated June 2010)
Human billboards have been seen on the streets of London for centuries, and we've been documenting recent examples around central London.
Although the products may change, advertisers continue to use eye catching outfits and costumes to attract the eyes of passers by.
In 1830, you might seen a chain of human churns wobbling around the Strand- or perhaps a procession of trumpet-parping placard-carriers - and in modern times, similarly low paid folks are sent out into the streets in equally bizarre outfits.
With Westminster banning large billboards from the streets, advertisers have had to become a bit more imaginative, employing oddball and eye-catching wheezes to draw attention to themselves.
With temperatures dropping below freezing, this fella on Regent Street had my sympathy. In the background, you can just make out a guy in a gorilla suit and a crash helmet advertising Waxing, Tanning and Threading beauty treatments [Jan 2010].
The strange costumes seems to have done the job and attracted the attention of this passer by on Regent Street, W1.
Apologies for the low quality phone photo, but hopefully you can see the daft outfit this poor sod on Tottenham Court Road had to stand about in all day.
A Star Wars Star Trooper is employed to lure people into a shoe shop in Carnaby Street.
'Traditional' style human billboard in Piccadilly Circus.
A June 2010 view modelling a fluorescent boiler suit on Regent Street. (pic: teucher)
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2010 update
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