If you let your car be a billboard on wheels, you can get free gas

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jul 3, 2007 | by DEBBIE KELLEY THE GAZETTE

Want free gas? Rosie Ewald's getting $33 worth every month for turning her Chevy Lumina into a roving billboard.

"Anything helps," said Ewald, an office manager at a doctor's office. "Not only are gas prices high, prices these days on everything seem to have gone up."

The average price of a gallon of unleaded gas dropped to $3.04 in Colorado Springs on Monday, down from an all-time high of $3.29 set May 23, but still pricey for many drivers' budgets. That's what a Southern California-based firm is counting on in moving into Colorado.

The specialty advertising and promotion firm called Free- GasHelp.com gives motorists up to $200 a month on a gas card for agreeing to have advertising from local businesses attached to their personal cars, trucks, vans, lunch wagons or semis.

Drivers are selected by the routes they typically drive, and they have to log 1,000 miles each month.

Businesses pay $89 to $500 a month to have their advertising messages adhered to vehicles, said Scott Pfeffer, who owns the Colorado territory.

Smaller ads are magnetic signs or decals that attach to vehicle doors, windows, hubcaps or even the hood. Larger vinyl ads are wrapped around vehicles. Drivers' gas reimbursement depends on the ad's size and where the car gets driven.

"Mobile advertising works because the impression time of individuals stopped in traffic is much better than a billboard drivers see on the interstate going 60 miles an hour," Pfeffer said.

The seemingly painless way for drivers to make a few extra bucks also benefits advertisers, said Rob Offenhartz, owner of Planet Scuba, a diving center in Castle Rock.

Last year, he wrapped one of his company vehicles, a Chevy van, with a sign advertising his business.

"It made our phone ring," he said, "and we've been thinking about how to increase that kind of advertising without having to go out and buy 20 vehicles."

Offenhartz signed up with FreeGasHelp.com a few weeks ago. Although he said it's too early to gauge consumer response, he's planning to buy ad space on up to five FreeGasHelp.com vehicles that frequently drive between Castle Rock and Colorado Springs, and Castle Rock and the Denver Tech Center.

"We get some business from those areas, and I like that I can specify where I want the vehicles to travel geographically," he said. "It's a great deal -- I get relatively inexpensive advertising I couldn't afford to do on my own, and drivers get a pretty bonus."

Advertisers range from physicians and real estate agents to day care centers and homebased businesses, Pfeffer said, adding that his firm creates the signs from artwork the advertiser provides.

Ewald's car promotes a dental referral service and an online personalized children's bookstore. The online bookstore, based in the home of Melanie Bowman of Denver, is just getting off the ground.

"I don't know if people will look at my sign and remember it -- but I think it's eyecatching," Bowman said. "I'd look at it."

Beneath the ad, a smaller message reads: "The driver/owner of this car does not represent the company."

"You're going to have people staring at your car -- they'll be reading the sign," Pfeffer told Ewald on Thursday as he affixed magnetic ads to her car. "You may even get some people who ask you about the business -- that's why we print the waiver that the driver is not associated with the company."

FreeGasHelp.com is in 17 metro areas.

Drivers can sign up on the Web site, www.freegashelpcolorado.com.

FREE GAS TODAY

If you're cruising by a gas station this morning, keep an eye out for the people in blue shirts with "Allstate" in white lettering.

Allstate insurance representatives will visit six Colorado Springs gas stations today from 10 a.m. to noon to offer $5,000 worth of free gas in celebration of the city's ranking as having the eighth-safest drivers in the United States.

A 2007 Allstate report that compares crash histories of U.S. cities with more than 100,000 residents found that the average Colorado Springs driver will experience an accident about once every 12.7 years.

The national average is once every10 years.

The first 165 drivers who are in "the right place at the right time"will get $30 worth of free gas, pumped by the agent and delivered with the message to drive with caution Wednesday, traditionally one of the deadliest holidays.

The catch? To prevent motorists from lining up, Allstate isn't saying which stations they'll visit today.

But they'll be wearing blue.

THE GAZETTE