Flashing LED Kits, 7 Segment LEDs, and the Cartoon Network: The Evolution of Advertizing

Ever since the Cartoon Network took down the City of Boston in 2007 with a flashing LED kit, the power of this advertizing to turn heads cannot be denied. Granted, the cable TV station probably didn’t foresee their flashing LED kits starting a terrorist panic that shut down several freeways in Boston, but it was publicity all the same.

Ever since the Cartoon Network took down the City of Boston in 2007 with a flashing LED kit, the power of this advertizing to turn heads cannot be denied. Granted, the cable TV station probably didn’t foresee their flashing LED kits starting a terrorist panic that shut down several freeways in Boston, but it was publicity all the same. An artist used 7 Segment LEDs to display characters from Aqua Team Hunger Force as a promotional campaign for the show, but Boston city leaders were unamused.

Just because Boston can’t take a joke doesn’t mean the rest of the advertizing world won’t get in on the game. Flashing LED kits are increasingly being used in billboard advertizing because they aren’t as static as traditional print advertizing.

Not only advertisers are utilizing flashing LED kits. You’ll find 7 Segment LED technology used as Christmas, Halloween or Valentine’s Day decorations. They light up the yard with an animated display that you can even set to music. One popular way to celebrate is to count down the days until Christmas, using 7 Segment LEDs to show how much time you have left to shop.

7 Segment LEDs are being used in any digital device that needs to have a numerical display. You’ll find them used at the DMV, classrooms and in your alarm clock. It’s a way to clearly represent numbers without the binary format. Most professional scoreboards use a 7 segment LED, as do many traffic and business signs.

7 Segment LEDs are so named because a complete range of numbers can be created with just 7 LEDs, plus one for a decimal point, if needed. However, these 7 lights can be grouped with other displays to create more complex images, as was the case with the flashing LED kit used by the Cartoon Network. This sort of configuration makes it possible to use a 7 segment LED for a variety of advertizing purposes. It attracts attention far better than a static billboard.

People need change. They need movement. Flashing LED kits provide dynamic images, whether you are decorating or advertizing. As the technology becomes more affordable, you’ll find more of them lining the highways, and not just in the big cities. 7 segment LED can attract a lot of attention. They keep people from being bored in bumper to bumper traffic.

It’s not surprising that the City of Boston mistook the Cartoon Network’s Flashing LED kit for a terrorist act 3 years ago, considering how little exposure flashing LED kits had on the market up to that point. These days, 7 segment LEDs are common enough that most will recognize them as an advertizing platform. It’s highly unlikely that flashing LED kits get the bomb squad called out the next time they hit the streets.

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Farrah Stonetree is the author of this article on Flashing LED Kits.
Find more information about 7 Segment LEDs here.