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SALT LAKE CITY -- Have you noticed the billboards along the freeway stating that the first word spoken on the moon was "Houston"?
You may ask yourself: "What? Am I being tested on this?"
Well, maybe, yes. In fact, 300 people already were.
"In the first survey, about four people were able to name to name the first word spoken on the moon. It was kind of a fun one to do because a lot of people guessed the wrong word," says Ken Foster, president of Foster Research.
Foster says he thinks some of the people who stated the correct answer may have just guessed. Other people in the sample group guessed the words "one" and "it's."
The billboards are a joint effort from Reagan Outdoor Advertising and Foster Research to show how far-reaching billboard advertising is.
After 30 days, another sample group will be quizzed about what the first word spoken on the moon was. Then, after 60 days, a third group will be quizzed, followed by yet another group to be quizzed after 90 days. [CLICK HERE fore more information on the research project]
"We'll ask 300 more people if they can name the first word spoken on the moon. [We] should see a sharp increase from the first sample," Foster says.
He says word seems to spread quickly, and the percentage of people who can remember the factoid being advertised skyrockets after the first 30 days.
"It will go from 1 percent or less, then 1 percent up about 45 to 55 percent," Foster says.
This isn't the first time Reagan and Foster have teamed together to research how people retain what they see on billboards. Foster says he's been doing research for Reagan since the late 1970s.
In the past, Foster has quizzed people along the Wasatch Front on Utah governors, historical dates and even beauty pageant queens.
"The one with [former Miss Utah] Jami Palmer did work quite well because it was a picture of Jami Palmer, who is a gorgeous young lady; and if you put a big picture of a gorgeous young lady on a billboard, it's bound to get attention," Foster says.
Why did they quiz Utahans on what was the first word spoken from the moon? Foster says it's in honor of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing.
There is one downside with posting information on billboards, however. Foster says people will be able to remember the fact they saw advertised for the short term, but it doesn't always stay in their long-term memory just because it was posted once on a billboard.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
