Advertising is the Only Purpose of Billboards

A billboard renting company applied for prolongement of its right to place billboards in immediate proximity of one of the main roads in Prague. When the local planning authority denied the application on grouds of the billboard being placed over so called „isolation vegetation“, which should protect the surrounding areas from dust and noise of the road, the company tried to challenge this decision in court. However interesting and amusing the company’s arguments were, they should have been regarded as obstructive and legally inadmissible from the very beginning of the proceedings. One of the arguments was that the billboard can protect a part of the surroundings from dust, noise and direct light, as well as protect the soil in its shadow from drought, therefore it has the same qualities as the vegetation. Surprisingly, the dispute proceeded before the Supreme Administrative Court, which ruled in favour of the construction office. The Court made clear that the only purpose of a billboard is to provide information and convince the public as a mean of commercial communication and it cannot substitute the green areas in reaching their purpose. At the end of its decision, the Court almost ironicaly added that according to the company’s arguments, the bigger the building the better for the enviroment, as it gives a larger shadow.