School bus ads? On the outside, yes

Keep tight control over content

Published December 30, 2005 at midnight

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Coloradans have seen ads on school buses before, and nothing particularly dreadful seems to have happened as a result. So if the Cherry Creek schools want to accelerate the installation of safety equipment on their bus fleet without taking the money from the classroom, that's a sensible reason to proceed.

Earlier this month the district approved a five-year agreement with a broker, Media Advertising in Motion, for ads that will begin appearing on the outside of school buses in mid-January.

We'd be more concerned if the ads were inside and the children riding the bus were seeing them for extended periods. But outside? The world is awash in advertising, on every imaginable space (and yes, newspapers and their Web sites are indeed part of the flood). Most people most of the time do not respond to most of the ads because they don't happen to need that particular product at that particular moment.

Two things are important before a district goes ahead with an ad plan. One is that it have a clear purpose for what it wants to do with the money. That way, when a given agreement comes to an end, district officials can realistically consider whether they want to continue it. Once it's become part of the regular budget, counted on for continuing expenses, an advertising program will be difficult to close down.

The second is that a district must maintain control over what gets advertised on its buses, or for that matter in other spaces such as stadiums where it allows ads. Not all districts will have exactly the same guidelines - the current policy in Cherry Creek, according to a spokeswoman, bars ads for alcohol, drugs, firearms and tobacco - but they all need to adopt some rules and have the ability to enforce them.

Most people are sophisticated enough to realize that a vehicle for advertising - whether it has wheels or not - is not an endorsement by its owner of the products or services being promoted. But young children may not be clear on the concept yet, which is a major reason to maintain tight controls. In addition, there is a sense of endorsement when a government source conveys a message, even if it is one sent by someone else. That's why the First Amendment governs religious speech in public settings, but not private ones.

Cherry Creek has had bus ads before, as have Denver and Colorado Springs. Douglas County is considering them. As long as reasonable safeguards are in place, we don't think that's anything to worry about.

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