Last week I flew into London after a weekend trip to Rome and embarked on the usual mundane journey through check-in, departures, passport control and yes..my favourite bit at the end… the long and tiresome wait at the carousel.

Whilst trying to spot my luggage amongst the mysterious looking cling-filmed wrapped suitcases and bubble-wrapped pushchairs, it occurred to me that industry chiefs from the world of advertising are perhaps missing a trick.

I waited approximately 17 mins for my luggage. 10 of those minutes were spent looking at an empty carousel, circulating at a monotonous speed, with everyone wondering if our luggage had even made it into the country, let alone to Baggage reclaim 5. I stood there wondering whether I had time to nip and get a paper to relieve my boredom or whether to tirelessly wait and watch….

I think advertisers have missed a great opportunity here. Similarly to adverts running up the escalators of the London Underground network (positioned in an attempt to inform, influence or inspire the population whilst they embark on their travels), it dawned on me that not many advertisers have cottoned on to a different form of media space, namely the usually dull area of the Carousel.

Some people would argue that these days advertising seems to encroach on all areas of people’s lives. As you can already tell, I’m not one of them. I think (if managed in the correct way), the carousel would be a great platform for advertising. It certainly would brighten up my day to see inspiring, interesting and useful ads whilst I wait for the appearance of my flight’s luggage. Only problem is though, I may end up missing my bright pink trolley spinning round if I’m engrossed in the long copy of the next big campaign…

I’d be interested to know what you think about advertising at airport carousels? Perhaps it’s being done already and I’ve totally missed it. Would be interested to hear of any examples if that’s the case?

Sarah Washington