Texas Billboards

I needed an image of a billboard in Amarillo for a video project I was making. A Google search took me on an interesting adventure.

The billboard went up in June 2018, just outside of Vega TX, near the NM state line.

Then this sign appeared on I-40 in Amarillo.

A barrage of trash talk appeared on social media. Someone posted to tell them to come to Albuquerque where we have intelligence. 

 

Texas Monthly weighed in with:

 

Telling people to get out of the state, though, isn’t the finest expression of traditional Texas values. Regardless of where you stand politically, we can all recognize that friendliness is a key Texas trait. “The Friendly State” has been our official slogan since 1930! (If one insists on a message with some political shade, might we recommend “Bless your heart”?)

 

The billboard controversy ended when Burkett Media (based in Austin) convinced and reimbursed the client to take down the sign. Almost every year I go to Amarillo and then west to Albuquerque. I never got to see either sign.

Oh, here is the image that I used.

 

Here's the composite text graphic on a starry background.

And here is the placement of my graphic.

It was just what I wanted – a nighttime image of a well lit sign. It is on the north  side of I-40, just before the Courtyard by Marriott and the Kabuki Romanza Japanese restaurant. An accurate image adds versimilitude to the video.