Article

DOOH fights to make lemonade stands legal

In 35 states, lemonade stands are technically illegal. Lemonade manufacturer Country Time aimed to change that with a programmatic DOOH campaign.

Image via Lamar Advertising

July 18, 2019 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator

One of the most common images of summertime is a lemonade stand, usually run by a few children with their parents keeping a close eye on them. What few people realize about this quintessential summer scene is that lemonade stands are actually illegal in most states in the U.S.

Get that stand out of here

In fact, 35 states have essentially made lemonade stands illegal due to a number of other laws such as child labor or business permit and licensing regulations. Lemonade companies are attempting to battle back against these laws through DOOH campaigns.

Country Time, a lemonade company, recently partnered with Place Exchange, a programmatic exchange for OOH media, and Lamar Advertising to push pro-legalization messages to billboards in states that have not legalized stands.

If life gives you lemons

The goals of the displays were to raise awareness about the issue by pointing out how setting up a lemonade stand could cost kids and their parents big fines. The billboards used information from local laws to inform the public about how much setting up a stand could cost them.

"The digital billboards ran the following content across cities where lemonade stands are still illegal: 'Running a lemonade stand in *name of city* could get you fined *amount of dollars,*' where the city and dollar amount were contextually relevant," a spokesperson for the Place Exchange said in an email.

The billboards also advertised Country Time's Legal-Ade website where residents could visit and take action to help legalize lemonade stands in their towns and cities.

Country Time hoped that these messages would help raise awareness on these "outdated laws," a spokesperson for the company said.

"The goal of Country Time's Legalize Lemonade is to help change outdated permit laws that impact lemonade stands across the country by giving citizens the tools to change their permit laws. Country Time believes that Lemonade Stands should be a tradition, not a crime," a spokesperson said.

A big impact

Through the campaign, Country Time was able to generate millions of impressions, while receiving national press coverage and increased social media activity.

"The campaign garnered more than 5 million impressions from programmatic out-of-home," a Place Exchange spokesperson said.

Country Time was also able to take advantage of recent legislation in Texas to legalize lemonade stands.

"To coincide with the recent legislation in Texas approving lemonade stand legalization, the campaign was posted immediately, targeting billboards based on location, all done programmatically through Place Exchange," a spokesperson said.

The main goal

The main goal of this campaign according to Country Time was not just to remove legal barriers but also to keep the summer tradition of kid-run lemonade stands alive.

"Country Time wants to protect this tradition and give our customers the tools to take action in their states to ensure that lemonade stands are available for everyone."

About Bradley Cooper

---

Bradley Cooper is the editor of ATM Marketplace and Food Truck Operator. He was previously the editor of Digital Signage Today. His background is in information technology, advertising, and writing.

Connect with Bradley: