Boulevard Salutes Some of the City’s Biggest Egos

Like many people who drive the serpentine Sunset Strip, Steve Martin found himself stuck there in traffic one night several years ago. As he stared up at the jungle of billboards to pass the time, out of the smoggy sky came a vision: the Sunset Strip Billboard Awards.

“It seemed so obvious,” said Martin (a West Hollywood city councilman, not the actor).

In an age when some folks are working furiously to banish billboards as eyesores, West Hollywood has opted to elevate them to iconic status.

And why not commemorate the Strip’s psychedelic explosion of larger-than-life logos and legs, egos and Next Big Things? Those billboards, after all, are as much a part of the Southern California landscape as the Hollywood sign.

“We feel by recognizing genuine creativity, we will foster more of it,” Martin said, who added later that the city has reached its saturation point on the number of billboards--about 100--that festoon the Strip.

The first billboard awards ceremony took place the other night at the West Hollywood Hyatt on Sunset. Like much of the Strip, the hotel is more upscale than it used to be, having lost some of its grungy rock ‘n’ roll feel after a flurry of renovations. The Hyatt’s work was paid for, in part, by leasing out the sides of the building for “tall walls,” an advertising industry term for ads that are painted on the sides of multistory buildings.

A crowd of about 200 gathered in the hotel’s rooftop ballroom, back lit by the twinkling Strip. Although the awards went to the ad agency creative types who designed the campaigns, hardly any showed up. Most guests were representatives of companies that lease billboards.

But organizers didn’t seem to mind; they had stars.

“You all remember her as nasty Nellie Oleson on ‘Little House on the Prairie,’ ” said an announcer, introducing mistress of ceremonies Alison Arngrim, in a perky red pants suit, striped shirt and man’s tie, her blond hair clipped short.

Frankie Muniz, star of “Malcolm in the Middle” and his TV brothers, Justin Berfield (Reese) and Erik Per Sullivan (Dewey) were among the more competent presenters; they stuck to the script. Actress Viveka Davis (“EDtv”), on the other hand, refused to give up the spotlight when her turn was over. The raucous blond with a bindhi on her forehead continued to chime in from the audience throughout the 90-minute ceremony, at one point standing up to jokingly announce her intention to kick Oscar de la Hoya’s butt for canceling his appearance there at the last minute.

Billboards competed in eight product categories, ranging from beverages to cars. Sauza Tequila’s eyeball-grabbing nod to actors, created by Cliff Freeman & Partners, won in the beverage category. The billboard reads in part: “You finally got a speaking part in a movie . .

Apple Computer’s heartwarming “Desi & Lucy” tall wall, designed by TWBA/Chiat Day, took the prize in the consumer goods category.

(“I actually had constituents complain to me when that one was taken down,” Councilman Martin said.)

And a Volkswagen Beetle billboard that reads: “On the list at SkyBar,” designed by Arnold Communications, won in the car category.

Billboards first appeared on the Sunset Strip in the 1920s, according to Sally Henderson and Robert Landau, authors of the 1980 book “Billboard Art” (Chronicle Books). A decade later, the landscape was crowded with overgrown images of Coca-Cola cans and Ford cars. In the ‘50s, talent agents began trying to make their clients famous by putting their mugs on billboards above the Strip. In 1967, Elektra Records leased a billboard for the first Doors album, setting off a race among music execs for the premium real estate, according to Art Fein’s 1990 book, “The L.A. Musical History Tour: A Guide to the Rock and Roll Landmarks of Los Angeles.” When Sunset Strip was dominated by clubs like the Roxy and Whisky A Go Go in the ‘70s, nearly every billboard was music-related.

Today, many of the tableaux are dedicated to fledgling dot-coms.

A billboard on the Strip costs about $30,000 a month, and will be seen by about 1.5 million pairs of eyes, said Rick Robinson of Infinity Outdoor, who chose the panel of seven judges from the ad and art world.

“Billboards are the one medium you can’t avoid,” said artist Mike McNeilly, whose tall walls for Disney and HBO were nominated for Sunset Strip Billboard Awards.

McNeilly, who is challenging his recent arrest for failing to obtain a permit before painting the Statue of Liberty on the side of a building in Westwood, said he was disappointed that billboard companies, rather than art directors, were accepting the awards at Thursday’s show. “Just because you rent space,” he said, “doesn’t mean you’re creative.”

Event sponsors--the city of West Hollywood, the Chamber of Commerce, the Convention and Visitors Bureau and billboard companies--said they had difficulty persuading creative types to attend. They hope the show will attract a more diverse audience next year, and become an annual event.

There are those who believe that the Sunset Strip has all the attention it can take and that engaging advertisers in a game of “who can create the most head-turning billboard” could make the notoriously bad traffic worse. Since April 1, there have been 52 traffic collisions on the Strip, according to the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Department. New billboard technology like VideoTrons, 3-D effects and fast-moving images could up the accident rate.

“Most of the accidents are related to drunk driving,” Councilman Martin said. “But the new technology has to be weighed against traffic safety and flow issues.”

But Chamber of Commerce President James Litz had a different view: “Traffic is not moving on Sunset anyway,” he said. “It’s not because of the billboards. Plus, it’s nice to have something to look at while you’re waiting.”