Outdoor advertising management: Still floating

(Baonghean) - In a market economy, advertising in general and outdoor advertising in particular have become indispensable needs. Currently, outdoor advertising in the province is "everyone doing their own thing", causing loss of urban beauty and affecting social order and safety.

"Chaos" of outdoor advertising

Outdoor advertising is understood as all types of advertising that affect consumers when they step outside their homes. This is an effective and cheap method of conveying messages to the public. In our country, outdoor advertising is considered the most popular type of advertising. Outdoor advertising is divided into 5 types, which are: Large billboard advertising with poles erected near national highways; propaganda advertising to promote socialization in inner cities and towns; advertising on median strips; advertising banners, pennants hanging on electric poles; classified ads, leaflets, loudspeakers. All 5 types have problems that cause frustration for people. For example, in our province, large outdoor billboard advertising is currently concentrated in the suburbs of cities, towns, and townships. In general, these billboards ensure safety. However, some billboards have been installed for too long and do not ensure safety on stormy days, becoming a concern for traffic participants. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, Nghi Trung Commune, Nghi Loc District, said: “Last year, I was driving on National Highway 1 during a storm when a piece of canvas from a billboard was torn by the wind and flew into my face. Luckily, I was driving slowly and there were few vehicles on the road, so when I fell, I only suffered minor injuries…”

Outdoor advertising is messy and causes loss of urban beauty (photo taken at the intersection of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Le Hong Phong streets, Vinh City).

On the streets of Vinh City, billboards and panels are "blossoming" and do not follow any standards. This chaos is creating a kind of urban "garbage". Many billboards on the roofs of households and median strips partly obscure traffic visibility. Many billboards are placed on sidewalks, hung on fences, electric poles, trees, etc., negatively affecting traffic safety corridors. On electric poles, horizontal and vertical banners, pennants, and flags are hung haphazardly, not of the same size or position, even 2-3 banners are hung in the same place; leaflets, brochures, and concrete-cut phone numbers are cut, pasted, and sprayed directly on house walls very commonly; during break time, vehicles have loudspeakers advertising circus performances and loud music... Mr. Tran Duc Lien, Hung Binh Ward, City. Vinh reflected: “Many banners serving political tasks, the time of the event has long passed but have not been taken down, torn, crumpled, looking very offensive. For example, the banner “North Central Coast Culinary Culture and Tourism Festival” hung at the intersection of Nguyen Duc Canh and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai streets. The event took place in July but is still there; many advertising signs are tangled with electric wires, which can easily cause fire or explosion.”

It must be said that many outdoor advertising signs, panels, and banners are seriously violating the Government's Decree detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Advertising, Circular No. 19/2013/TT-BXD of the Ministry of Construction on National Technical Regulations on Outdoor Advertising Media, as well as provincial regulations. This chaos is destroying the landscape and urban space, seriously affecting social order and safety... The cause of this situation comes from inadequacies in management, handling, and rectification of violations and the weak awareness and perception of many units and business households; and the control of competent authorities.

Need specific planning

Mr. Vu Hong Duc, Deputy Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Vinh City, said: For large outdoor billboard advertisements, to ensure safety and urban beauty, the city has proactively called to remind units to dismantle them before the rainy and stormy season. The city and wards and communes have established inspection and dismantling teams, but the effectiveness is still limited when the human resources are thin, the fines are limited and not enough to deter. Handling violations is also more difficult for businesses outside the province that advertise in the province because there is no specific address to contact and notify. Meanwhile, the city has not yet planned locations to hang banners. The city has coordinated with all levels and sectors to collect phone numbers, sign commitments with business owners, and direct wards and communes to build free billboards and limit public classified ads.

According to statistics of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in 2013, 295 dossiers of notification of advertising products were received and by August 2014, 128 dossiers of notification of advertising products were received. However, in the post-inspection stage, from 2013 to now, only 20 establishments have been inspected, 3 establishments have been handled for violations, and 3 million VND has been administratively fined. In addition to the reason that the inspection and examination force of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is still thin and operates in a wide area, the coordination between the Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism, the Department of Construction, the Department of Finance, the Department of Transport, the People's Committees of districts, towns and cities regarding advertising activities is still loose.

Mr. Hoang Minh Phuong, Deputy Head of the Department of Professional Affairs, Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism said: The implementation of the Planning of the outdoor advertising and propaganda system in Nghe An province, period 2010 - 2020 still faces many difficulties. The reason is that this planning must be based on the planning in different fields such as: Traffic, construction, urban, economic zones, industrial parks... Currently, the above planning is not stable or is in the process of construction; districts, cities and towns in the province are slow to develop detailed planning for advertising forms, causing many difficulties in management.

Thus, to thoroughly rectify and put outdoor advertising activities into order, it is necessary to have a specific plan for infrastructure for this type of advertising. At the same time, the investment and exploitation process must comply with the planning scheme. Relevant departments, branches and localities need to coordinate to effectively license and manage outdoor advertising activities, creating a spatial environment and landscape architecture for the city. Handling illegal outdoor advertising billboards requires attention and close coordination between departments and local authorities. It is thought that assigning specific management and violation handling responsibilities to each People's Committee of wards, communes and towns is also an effective way...

Thanh Son