Hubcaps put new spin on outdoor advertising

A graphics firm has devised a way to put ads on wheels. The technique, it says, is cheap and eye-catching.

By MELANIE AVE

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 28, 2000

HUNTER'S GREEN -- Some people put their message in a bottle, while others fly their brands on blimps.

But two local couples are hoping you'll plant your missive in the center of spinning wheels.

Hunter's Green residents Harris and Audrey Romaner and partners Steve and Rhonda Kratz of Tampa Palms have developed a new advertising endeavor in which the names and logos of products, companies and organizations can be placed on hubcaps. They call their wheel covers "ad caps."

[Times photo: Jim Stem] The advertising-adorned hubcaps stay stationary while the wheels turn.

The couples say their mobile advertising, mostly unseen in the United States until now, has the advantage of being visible anywhere a car travels. And its advocates said the oddity of advertising on a tire seems to attract attention.

"It's like a Lazy Susan, but it stays still," Harris Romaner said, demonstrating a gray, plastic cover that can be snapped onto steel wheels. "It's a marketing product just like a billboard."

The company, adcaps.com, prints the advertisements on stickable vinyl and places them on the wheel covers.

The wheel covers, made by Tampa-based IWC Inc., remain motionless as the car moves because of a weighted centerpiece that remains stationary at speeds up to 70 mph. As the car moves, the centerpiece stays horizontal so passers-by can read it.

"It looks like the wheels aren't turning," Romaner said. "It always gets a double take."

Although adcaps.com is just getting started -- it's based in the Romaners' home for now -- both couples think taxi cab companies and commercial fleets are the ideal market for the patented product.

Next week, the Yellow Cab Co. of Tampa will place six cars on the road with advertisements for the Tampa Bay History Center. For the past two months, Gordon Chevrolet on N Dale Mabry has displayed ad caps on three of its service vehicles, and Deco Boat Lifts in Safety Harbor has used them on a six-wheel race-car trailer.

The History Center's G.J. Minardi said the hubcaps are ideal for the non-profit organization. "We don't have a very large budget to advertise," said Minardi, whose family owns Yellow Cab. "It's much more cost-effective than a billboard."

George Massell, one of Deco's owners, hopes the hubcaps will build name recognition for his company when he takes the trailer to boat shows and race tracks throughout the Southeast.

"They look pretty cool," he said. "It's a great conversation piece. Hardly ever does someone see a logo on your hubcaps.

"They say, "What are you, crazy?' "

Nelson Meyerson, general sales manager for Gordon Chevrolet, said the hubcaps are cheaper than painting the side of a car and then covering an emblem when it comes time to re-sell the car.

Recently, Meyerson said, he went out to watch people's reaction to the ad caps on one of his service vehicles. While the driver was going between 40 mph and 50 mph, "You could see people's necks turning. They stand out."

Adcaps.com is an outgrowth of the Romaners' 25-year-old computer graphics company, Romaner Graphics.

Harris Romaner noticed the wheel covers in one of his customer's catalogs, IWC, which sells hundreds of varieties of hubcaps. But instead of seeing an everyday hubcap, he saw a great "marketing potential." At the same time, Audrey Romaner and Steve Kratz were trying to find ways to use the Internet to grow the graphics business.

The ideas meshed, and adcaps.com was born.

The wheel covers can be used on cars with standard steel rims between 13-inch and 16-inch diameters. Larger caps for trucks and buses are being developed. The covers can't be used on cars with alloy wheels.

For an individual, one set of four hubcaps costs $299. Adcaps.com will make group deals with advertisers, but the wheel covers cost the cab companies nothing, Romaner said.

"All they have to do is put them on and collect a check every month," he said.

Romaner said other companies have tried hubcap advertising, but their efforts failed because of faulty wheel covers that would spin too much or cause tires to overheat.

A similar product has taken off in Singapore. Adcaps.com is talking to businesses in Canada, South Africa and El Salvador, which heard of the company via its Web site.

"We think the whole United States is open to us," Audrey Romaner said. "There's just no end to it. It's mind-boggling."

-- Melanie Ave can be reached at (813) 226-3473 or melanie@sptimes.com.

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