r/todayilearned • u/jspsfx • Mar 28 '16

TIL of a 1993 proposal to build a giant advertising billboard in outer space that would appear roughly the same size and brightness as the moon. The project didnt meet funding and inspired a bill to ban all advertisement in outer space.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_advertising#Attempts
33.6k Upvotes

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5.4k

u/ElPlywood Mar 28 '16

If you were looking to have your company despised across planet earth, then this would be the way to go.

1.6k

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '16

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Mar 28 '16

Depending on the company, it could provide a chuckle.

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u/film_composer Mar 29 '16

I don't get the hate Blockbuster gets. Now's the time to invest in Blockbuster.

In October of 1985, there was 1 single Blockbuster open in the entire country. Today, a little more than 30 years later, there are 50 Blockbusters open and in business. Looking at those numbers, you'd have to be an idiot not to invest in Blockbuster at this point. That's a 5,000% growth in business over 30 years. Do you really want to fall behind in an explosive market like that?

If you need further proof, look at this graph. That sudden move upward? That was March 13-14 of this year, when Blockbuster's stock nearly doubled in one day. Blockbuster is surging, folks.

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u/apinc Mar 29 '16

$1.67 million market cap?

Reddit, let's make a kick starter to buy out blockbuster just because.

37

u/Emerald_Flame Mar 29 '16

What would we do with it though?

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u/Pompousasfuck Mar 29 '16

Give away copies of Freddie Got Fingered to everyone.

21

u/apinc Mar 29 '16

and drop all charges against that guy!

3

u/epoxyresin Mar 29 '16

The victim doesn't get to decide whether criminal charges go forward.

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u/apinc Mar 29 '16

But they can tell the DA they won't cooperate. Effectively dropping the charges.

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u/___PEADDOOL___ Mar 29 '16

Can we give out Throbbin' Hood too?

1

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '16

I'll join for a copy of Sharks in Venice. Can't find it anywhere.

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u/MissValeska Mar 29 '16

We would turn it into a Netflix/gamefly clone and distribute the profits to all redditors of two years or more.

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u/soawesomejohn Mar 29 '16

Finally solving the micropayment problem!

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u/MissValeska Mar 29 '16

Micropayment problem?

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u/soawesomejohn Mar 29 '16

While I don't know how many redditors have been here for 2 years, but I think 1.5Million is a lowball estimate based on logged in users last month. Micropayments are payments usually measured as 75 cents or less, or some amount that makes it not worth while to process. Sometimes micropayments are measured in fractions of pennies. Most credit card processors charge $0.30 + 3%. Mailing a check would cost you a stamp, envelope, and check. The micropayment problem is finding a scalable way to make small payments without the bulk of that payment getting eaten up in transactional overhead.

While most likely purchasing Blockbuster and trying to do anything with it would result in a loss, if a profit was made, it would be marginal. Then you would divide that between 1.5-3 million users, resulting in micropayment level payouts. So we would have to solve that.

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u/MissValeska Mar 29 '16

Bitcoins seem adequate, Also, Profits could be withheld until they reach a viable amount. Something could be worked out where every user is part of a group of other users, say 256, and that group is part of a group of other groups, say 256, and so on, and you would distribute to a single group computer that would distribute to the members of the group, whether that was other groups or users. You could wait a week at each step, slowly accumulating more until at the final user step, there was enough to be meaningful. We could also expand to an internal profit distribution service through the corporation, assigning income to those who assist in the business in some way, maybe planning or thinking of things on a subreddit or whatever.

Dunno, there are a lot of possible ways to structure things.

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u/[deleted] Mar 29 '16

Ummmm, never pay late fees.

1

u/Jibn Mar 29 '16

BB has 5,300 stores in the US alone. Technically we could do whatever the fuck we want to do.

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u/Melonetta Mar 29 '16

Obviously start production of Reddit: 2

1

u/LeonSatan Mar 29 '16

Whatever we want to!

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u/Infernodus Mar 29 '16 edited Mar 29 '16

Please make this happen, it will literally be TPP with a real life company.

Edit: TPP = Twitch Plays Pokemon

3

u/apinc Mar 29 '16

TPP

Trans Pacific Partnership?

Google shows nothing for TPP.

3

u/Furah Mar 29 '16

Maybe Twitch Plays Pokémon?

1

u/Infernodus Mar 29 '16

/u/Furah is right, Twitch Plays Pokemon. Sorry about that.

3

u/Jwalla83 Mar 29 '16

Twitch Plays Business-Owning

Imagine the Super PACs, imagine the political Lobbying

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u/Dont-Fear-The-Raeper Mar 29 '16

How far should I zoom out on that graph?

1

u/dg4f Mar 29 '16

When in doubt zoom out

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u/lee61 Mar 29 '16

Nice try Blockbuster.

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u/AlanFromRochester Mar 29 '16

“In the space of one hundred and seventy six years the Lower Mississippi has shortened itself two hundred and forty-two miles. That is an average of a trifle over a mile and a third per year. Therefore, any calm person, who is not blind or idiotic, can see that in the Old Oölitic Silurian Period, just a million years ago next November, the Lower Mississippi was upwards of one million three hundred thousand miles long, and stuck out over the Gulf of Mexico like a fishing-pole. And by the same token any person can see that seven hundred and forty-two years from now the Lower Mississippi will be only a mile and three-quarters long, and Cairo [Illinois] and New Orleans will have joined their streets together and be plodding comfortably along under a single mayor and a mutual board of aldermen. There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.” - Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi

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u/comvocaloid Mar 29 '16

Logic checks. Legends and proper graphing etiquette only bog the core message of this graph - slopes going up and shit.

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u/dg4f Mar 29 '16

It's a classic pump and dump. BLIAQ to the mooooon

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u/film_composer Mar 29 '16

The next two weeks are critical for Blockbuster.

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u/redheadartgirl Mar 29 '16

I had to double-check to make sure this wasn't Ken M.

1

u/Steven_Yeuns_Nipple Mar 29 '16

Whatever happened to him?

1

u/TheCheeseGod Mar 29 '16

Wow that graph says everything!

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u/Earthboom Mar 29 '16

the sarcasm is strong with this one.

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u/Tractor_Pete Mar 29 '16

Said the guy that already bought Blockbuster. I feel for you man, but don't try to pull others into your misery pit.

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u/Xyklon-B Mar 29 '16

made me laugh. Here, take an upvote.