When lounging on the beach this summer, don’t be surprised if you see a giant shark banner, or an enticing call for a shrimp boil being pulled behind a boat. This water advertising endeavor is New View Advertising LLC, owned and operated by locals, Steve Pixley and Taylor Skelley.
“We started the idea about two years ago and it took awhile for us to get going,” Pixley told The Log. “We’ve done a bunch of research on aerial advertising, but I run a charter boat and decided to tap into this unutilized source of ad space.”
Pixley explained that he had concerns about water advertising, as a floating billboard anchored on Okaloosa Island by local business owner, Tad Hunter, raised a small controversy in the area last year.
“It actually scared us,” Pixley said. “We got scared that they would shut it down where people could not advertise on the water.”
However, with more research, Pixley discovered that the real issue was the fact that the billboard was stationary, and that locals were merely opposed to the idea of clutter in the water.
“We found out that as long as you adhere to the laws of the Coast Guard you’ll be fine,” Pixley said.
Skelley and Pixley launch in either a 26-foot boat, or a jet ski from Choctawhatchee Bay, and can cruise from Crab Island to Sandestin with their vinyl mesh billboard in-tow.
“The mesh banner allows air to travel through it so it’s not like a sail,” Pixley explained.
So far, reception has been good for the fledgling business, and Pixley hopes that as the summer season approaches, he can add public service announcements and safety tips to his repertoire as well.
“We’ve had a bunch of good responses so far, most everyone has thought it’s a great idea,” he said.
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850-830-3024 Steve Pixley