World Advertising News

Samantha Freda, Contributor

At the start of the new year, City Council will decide whether or not to allow advertising in Philadelphia schools to generate revenue for the struggling school district. The bill's proponents have touted it as a way to make millions, but there is considerable research indicating that it could turn out to be a financial flop.

In 2011, the Pennsbury School District tried the same approach but discontinued the program due to insignificant financial gain. Ads were placed on surfaces inside the schools, mostly consisting of public service announcements. The advertising initiative was estimated to generate $424,000 toward the annual budget but instead "the extent of the profits was only a fraction of what was projected," said Ann Langtry, spokesperson for the Pennsbury School District.

School districts in Houston and Colorado also experienced less-than-lucritive results from school advertising. The Houston Independent School District of Texas and Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado reported that revenues from advertising programs raised only 0.01 percent of their respective budgets in the 2010-2011 school year, according to this report from Public Citizen's Commercial Alert, a Washington D.C.-based consumer-advocacy organization.

In fact, Public Citizen sent a letter to Council President Darrell Clarke, urging him to reconsider his sponsorship of the bill. On December 3, Public Citizen President Robert Weissman testified before the Committee on Rules, further urging them to withdraw the bill.

"We understand that the financial pressures Philadelphia schools currently face have prompted you to identify non-traditional sources of funding," Weissman said. "However our research has shown that it will raise insignificant amounts of revenue."