"This Could Lead to McDonald's Billboards on the Moon"…The Era of Space Advertising Has Begun

Private Spacecraft Odysseus Features Clothing Brand Advertisement
"The First 'Moon Advertisement' Case Has Been Created," Experts Say
New Changes Brought by the Era of Private Spacecraft

On the 22nd (local time), the unmanned spacecraft 'Odysseus' successfully landed on the moon, making history as the world's first privately-owned spacecraft to achieve a lunar landing. Along with this, attention is also focused on the advertising effects that the partner companies involved in this landing will gain.

On the 23rd, American media Axios and the British daily The Times reported that to withstand the extreme temperature differences in space, Odysseus's cryogenic propulsion tank was coated with a special heat-reflective film called 'Omni-Heat Infinity,' which features the logo of the American clothing brand Columbia.

The main body of the Odyssey lunar lander developed by the American space company Intuitive Machines, featuring the logo of the clothing brand Columbia attached [Image source: Provided by Intuitive Machines]

In other words, every time news related to Odysseus, which attracts global attention, is delivered through the media, Columbia's logo is naturally exposed.

This coating material is an insulating material developed by Columbia in 1964 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for the Apollo lunar exploration program. Later, Columbia commercialized it by applying it to winter outdoor clothing.

Initially, the American private space company that developed Odysseus, Intuitive Machines, requested financial support for Odysseus's development from Columbia and proposed attaching the brand logo. However, Columbia, judging that Omni-Heat could be effectively used to improve Odysseus's performance, instead proposed the use of the material.

Columbia stated in a press release, “To advance technology and materials and to establish a sustainable lunar base for humanity, we partnered with Intuitive Machines and applied our insulation technology used in our clothing to Odysseus.”

The main body of the Odyssey lunar lander developed by the American space company Intuitive Machines, featuring the logo of the clothing brand Columbia [Image source: Provided by Intuitive Machines]

As private companies' space development has recently increased, the advertising market is also becoming more active. Although it is known that advertising fees for attaching company logos to launch vehicles, probes, and landers reach millions of dollars, companies are actively engaging in space advertising, believing that the marketing effect will be even greater.

Last April, the Japanese company ispace, which attempted a lunar landing but failed, had advertisements from Japanese companies such as Japan Airlines, Suzuki, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) attached to its Hakuto-R. Industry insiders expect such movements to become more active in the future as they help cover development costs for space companies.

The Times noted that Columbia's participation in this project created the first case of 'moon advertising' and predicted, “As the commercial use of space expands further, it could become possible to install McDonald's billboards on the moon.”