A Truly Effective Advertising Vehicle

Just what we needed: somebody else out there slowing down traffic.
 
Worse, James Riseborough has actually made it his business to cause gridlock. Like the time he took a Toyota Scion, stuck a 6-foot golden egg on the roof, added three life-size Oompa-Loompas and installed a bubble machine in the rear to spout chocolate-scented bubbles.

"It literally brought traffic to a standstill in major metropolitan areas," Riseborough says with pride.

Traffic cops weren't happy. But Riseborough's client, Nestle, was so pleased with the automotive advertisement for its Wonka Golden Eggs it commissioned a second car campaign, for the Nestle Crunch Bar.
 
It's all working out pretty sweet for Riseborough, whose Lancaster, Mass.-based business, Turtle Transit, turns cars into commercials for clients from Dunkin' Donuts to MasterCard to Aerosmith.

Riseborough started in his garage seven years ago when he combined his passions, cars and sculpting. "I’ve always been a gearhead," he says, "and I went to art school for sculpting. I just saw Turtle Transit as a way to combine the two things I love and get paid for it."

Riseborough says his biggest challenge is not coming up with outlandlish new ideas but controlling his company's growth. Mobile marketing is a rapidly expanding field. In 2006 advertisers spent $6.8 billion on outdoor advertising, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

"Since I started I can honestly say there's never been a day when I wasn't looking forward to coming into work," Riseborough says. "I'm one of the lucky people who are fortunate to do what they love for a living. Each day it continues to get better."

Wait till he gets stuck in traffic behind one of his ad-mobiles. Then we'll see how upbeat he is.