What was Truth in Advertising?

Put up July 14, 1980 on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz, near the County Building. The first attempt used double-sided scotch tape, but the glue melted when the sun hit it and the overlay sign fell down. The second attempt a day later used wallpaper paste, which stayed up for two weeks until it was covered over.

The Coors family's suppression of unions and support of right wing causes prompted the first billboard alteration. Unions were supporting a boycott of Coors.

What was Truth in Advertising?

Truth in Advertising (also known as TIA) was a clandestine network of people who altered billboards to convey social and political messages. The network operated in the City of Santa Cruz, California, from 1980 to 1985. The feature that distinguished TIA work from other billboard vandalism was the amazing precision of the alterations. Each billboard appeared to be a regular billboard until you read the message.

These photographs are of actual altered billboards that appeared on Santa Cruz streets. The photographs have been adjusted for brightness, contrast, and parallax to improve the presentation quality, but the content has not been altered.

“We are interested in acquiring a copy of the photo of the Coors billboard. It interests us particularly because we represent Coors employees in Denver, Colo. And the photo would make a fine addition to our photo files”

Letter from the Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO.