"According to the aerial media company HELI-D, it's bringing enormous, 400-square-foot LED billboards to the 2026 Super Bowl in Santa Clara by helicopter, and representatives aim to eventually bring these flying 3D ads to the rest of California. Per the company's website and social media posts, the Federal Aviation Administration will allow them to soar within just 250 feet of the viewer, making brands " unignorable.""
"The U.S. midterm elections "are on the horizon, and the landscape of political advertising is evolving faster than ever," Simon Powell, HELI-D's co-founder, told SFGATE via email, adding that the sky is a new visual frontier for brands and candidates alike. While the company hasn't entered the political arena just yet, they've been having ongoing discussions regarding their technology's role in campaign efforts, Powell continued."
"Regardless of what they advertise, the billboards' "size and luminosity ensure the content remains unmistakable, whether viewed from the ground, a stadium, across a crowded waterfront, or wherever you find yourself when we fly in your city," Powell said. An Instagram post from Oct. 27 shows the company flying an enormous lime-green Smirnoff ad over Miami, where an ad can stay in the air for about an hour and a half at a time, Powell explained."
HELI-D plans to deploy 400-square-foot LED billboards suspended from helicopters at the 2026 Super Bowl in Santa Clara and aims to expand the flying 3D ads across California. The Federal Aviation Administration will permit flights as close as 250 feet to viewers, increasing visibility and impact for brands and candidates. The company positions airspace as a new battleground for audience attention and has discussed potential political-advertising uses. The displays emphasize size and luminosity for clear visibility from ground locations, stadiums, and waterfronts. An Instagram post showed a lime-green Smirnoff ad flown over Miami for about ninety minutes.
Read at SFGATE
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