First Company Logo Visible From Space

Albert Sandberg writes, "KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) has created the first logo that is visible from space. The construction was made by 65,000 1x1-foot tiles and covers about 2 acres. The logo was built and assembled over about a month and is located in the Nevada desert near Area 51. The article also has a short video showing the construction in time-lapse. Now the aliens know where to get their slimy food :-)"

Let's define VISIBLE as naked eye visible

[way2trivial]

if I can see my backyard from google maps.. that's (ahem) [B] VISIBLE FROM SPACE [/B]

Visible from space?

[LewsKinslayer]

What does it mean to be visible from space? This is totally absurd. My house is visible from space, I've seen it on Google Earth. There are other corporate logos that are probably visible from earth too, when you zoom in as much as they must to see this logo. Give me a break.

Lews

brilliant!

[circletimessquare]

we've been beaming decades of reruns of "war of the worlds" into space via tv signals, so the aliens are certain to be wise to the bacteria threat and are certain to bring their antibiotics

but i don't think anyone has made a movie about alien susceptibility to "supersize me"-style death by artery clogging. so now when the aliens do come, this kfc beacon will guide them to their first meal of addictive tasty trans fats, and they shall die of arteriosclerosis, rather than sepsis

a brilliant plan! huzzah to kfc for saving the world!

Re:Let's define VISIBLE as naked eye visible

[Dr. Eggman]

I agree, because I've seen store logos that were clearly ment to be seen from planes in Google Earth. Like the massive Target at lat 40.783780 lon -73.833376

By the way, does anyone know how big that Taco Bell logo was? You know, the giant one that Taco Bell said they'd give everyone in America a free taco if a piece of the Mir station hit it?

Ahh, just what every marketer aspires for...

[csorice7]

Darin Stevens couldn't be prouder of the accomplishment. Every marketer around the world just wrenched his fist upon reading this news - darn it, WE wanted to be the first logo seen in space!

OK Not really.

Nothing attracts a crowd, well, like a crowd.

Re:It's so all alien visitors will know...

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually. Human meat tastes like pork (but I do like the Beavis quote: "Tastes Like Chicken!! heh heh")

Robot Identifies Human Flesh As Bacon [slashdot.org]. and I seem to recall some stuff on cannibalism I read once upon a time that said the same thing. Many years ago I also read a text file on how to get choice bacon cuts from a human, but that was more for the shock and curiousity value. I'm a vegetarian.

Re:Visible from space?

[4D6963]

Come on, you got his point, don't you? I was about to comment on that too, you don't need to make something friggin huge to have it seen from space, it's all about the resolution you can get from your satelitte, so saying that it's the "First Company Logo Visible From Space" is absurd, for more accuracy it should be "First Company Logo Meant To Be Visible From Space"

Time for a new right...

[caitsith01]

I think we need the right not to look at advertising.

Am I alone in thinking that advertising should be restricted to certain public spaces designated as 'commercial', and should otherwise not be permitted? I strongly feel that I should be able to move around the world freely without having to look at KFC ads. We pay quite a lot of attention to our environment in a chemistry/biology context, but very little to it in terms of what kind of mental environment we are inhabiting.

I am generally relatively libertarian, believe it or not. I hate laws that interfere unneccessarily with people's right to do whatever they want. But the day I can't go anywhere on this planet without seeing an orbiting billboard [slashdot.org] is the day I become a serial killer. I guess I consider that a billboard or whatever isn't really 'over there' on someone else's property, because I feel its effects wherever I have the misfortune to observe it.

Put it this way - would we tolerate sound advertising that was audible from anywhere on earth? No. So why is visual advertising any different?

We are in danger of becoming a civilisation so enamoured with commerce that we have no independent culture or sense of aesthetics. I mean, we're branding the fucking PLANET now? It's sick. Commerce is a means to an end: we have made it an end in itself. As the first comment on the blog says, "this makes me want to kill myself".

This is sad.

[pair-a-noyd]

These people are scumbag profiteers. They pollute the airwaves with their obnoxious commercials and poison the public with their unhealthy food.

Now they are creating visual pollution on the grandest scale.

This is nothing but predatory profiteering and these giant ads, and this is not the first one, should be made illegal.

Damn. When is enough enough??

Re:The target audience

[Bent Mind]

I'd say the target audience is people who use Google Earth or other up to date satellite service. I know I loaded Google Earth upon reading this. I wonder how long it will be before this ad shows up? I've heard Area 51 is a common search for Google Earth. It's not surprising this add was created near it.

Tarp, not Tiles?

[Enuratique]

Did anyone else notice at the end of the time lapse video the helicopter draft blowing away what looked like a tarp, and not tiles, making the design? Or am I just crazy?

NOT visible from space.

[mnmn]

Visible from space means, visible from where the atmosphere effectively ends. Even in the lower strata, the buildings and the roads will also have to be visible for the logo to be visible.

Its really visible when you use zooming technology, in which case my house and care are already visible thanks to Google Earth as proof.

And plenty of company logos can be found going through Google Earth.

Ads need to be visible standing on the Earth

[derek_farn]

What is the point of ads visible from Earth orbit? Are there lots of people in orbit to sell to? The ads need to be visible by somebody standing on the Earth. Perhaps they could be on the Moon.

Here is a well known company [google.co.uk] whose logo is also visible from space.

Company Logo Visible from Earth

[j_f_chamblee]

I'm still waiting for the first company logo visible from earth (in space).

If there is anything that would lead me to seriously consider engaging in open rebellion against capitalist western culture, a la Camus, this would be it. The last thing some New Guinea Fore or Enga tribesperson or some Australian aborigine needs to see is a damned red and blue sphere with a wavy white stripe down the middle floating across the night sky (personally, I think Pepsi would do it first). I mean c'mon people, have some fscking perspective! Are marketing gurus really so stupid and vain that this would seem like a good idea?

Hmm, lack of perspective, marketing gurus, stupidity and vanity....

I think I just answered my own question.

Crap. I don't like rebellion. ;-)

Re:What is the freakin' point?

[geekoid]

you've heard of it, right?

Job well done.

Re:Rate of return on advertising

[geekoid]

0.

now the ROI on all the people who are posting in on every space/geek/tech/advertiser websites is huge!

Re:oblig

[geekoid]

I, for one, welcome our new finger licking good fried chicken overlords.

fixed.

Re:What About Eva?

[Poeir]

The Maxim giant magazine cover isn't a logo, that's the only real difference here.

Your link is the key to why it's near Area 51

[Salvance]

Oh wow, you just made me realize why they put it near Area 51 ... Google Earth (and other desktop satellite imagery)! I couldn't figure it out before, but your link made me realize that even though Area 51 is a no fly zone, TONS of people will still see it online. Think of all the kooky UFO websites that republish satellite pictures of Area 51. They have a huge audience of folks who are browsing for more info on Area 51. Now all these late night UFOlogists will have the answer to their hunger pains.

Raping the desert

[linuxwrangler]

I bet this brilliant f**ing "event company" just saw that they needed to clear a bunch of "weeds". Apparently they didn't bother to find out how long desert plants take to regrow. Scars in the desert can take decades to heal.

I was born and raised in the Mojave Desert. It's a beautiful place and it makes me sick to see a bunch of out-of-town yahoos clearcut a bunch of it for their little stunt. 'Course environmental awareness isn't the first thing that KFC brings to mind so it's par for the course.

Re:The target audience

[Zephyr14z]

Google Earth isn't up to date.

Re:KFC = Kentucky Fried Chicken

[cthulhu11]

Kentucky Fried Cruelty is more like it.

Re:Maybe genetic engineering can solve the problem

[fossa]

Looks like an allowable animal must both chew the cud and have a cloven hoof [thebricktestament.com]. Pigs have a cloven hoof but don't chew the cud [thebricktestament.com]. So, force the pig to chew the cud and you're ok? Some parts of "the law" strike me more as a guide for surviving in the desert in ancient times rather than arbitrary rules to follow. For example, Basically, the Dietary Law is a prohibition against eating scavenger animals [pacifichealthcenter.com]. The article goes on about how the more complex digestive system of grazing animals leads to less toxicity in the meat. Perhaps farm pigs fed a controlled diet should be considered "clean".

Comment removed

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Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Raping the desert

[adolf]

If I want to paste a logo onto my yard, that's my problem. And if I want to paste a Really Big logo onto my Really Big yard, that's also my problem.

Methinks that it's probably the best use that the landowner has ever gotten out of that particular stitch of property.

Re:That's a bad idea...

[Greeneemer]

What is the definition of "Visible From Space" anyways? I can see my house on Google Earth, does that make my house "Visible From Space" too?

Uh, why?

[RockDoctor]

Why, as in why did the editors think this was worthy of condemning electrons to potential-drop hell? And as in why did the KFC marketing 'droids think that this would do something worthwhile for their corporate masters.
When did I last subject myself to a KFC? Probably not in the last decade or two. Do I feel motivated to rush out and partake of small bits of bony chicken drenched in greasy batter? Uh, no.

Nazca Lines - These Guys were First

[giafly]

The Nazca Lines [google.com] were first, and much bigger. The picture at bottom left [unmuseum.org] is even a baby chicken. Or a moose upside down.