How OUTFRONT Saved Hollywood’s Biggest Icon
August 8, 2025
Instantly recognizable, constantly parodied, and occasionally vandalized, The Hollywood Sign is among the most famous landmarks in the world. But you might not know that this 50-foot tall, 450-foot-long icon originally began as a billboard. You also might not know that OUTFRONT played a key role in its restoration and endurance today as Los Angeles’ signature sight – when we say OOH creates cultural moments, we really mean it.
Nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains just above Beachwood Canyon, the Hollywood Sign – originally the Hollywoodland Sign – began as an advertisement for the city’s first real estate project, located in what’s now Beachwood Canyon. As the film industry grew more lucrative and built a steady-upper class, the growing neighborhood was marketed as an escape from the urban sprawl below. With space for swimming pools and tennis courts, the enclave was still accessible to Hollywood’s major studio lots and fine restaurants.
The investment group of prominent Angelenos behind the development sought to promote it via a sign visible to all of Los Angeles. The Hollywoodland Sign, constructed with the help of 60-foot telephone poles hauled up the hills, made the community unmissable. Its branding invoked an almost fairytale feel, offering a hillside oasis within an increasingly cosmopolitan city. The sign even got a light-up upgrade in December 1923, with the installation of 3,700 bulbs.
In 1924, a gigantic white dot was added just beneath the sign. The U.S Chamber of Commerce had designed a color-coded map to illustrate business conditions across the country` and white signified growth. Hollywood was considered a “white dot” of industry in a sea of struggling development, and the dot was added as a publicity point included in the Hollywoodland brochures at the time.
After 1930, the sign began to show signs of wear and tear, and it was ultimately given to the City of Los Angeles in 1945. Hollywood’s municipal government considered tearing the sign down altogether, but the residents fought against it, and the “LAND” was removed to reflect its newfound ownership. The refurbished sign transformed from a real estate billboard into an iconic landmark for the city, known nationwide as a symbol of Los Angeles.
However, over the next three decades, lack of maintenance and exposure to the elements decayed the sign further. Hollywood’s economy declined as businesses moved to the San Fernando Valley. In 1978, an engineering report revealed that the original supportive wooden poles had rotted entirely, and the sign needed to be completely replaced. An extensive campaign was launched by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to raise funds to save it – in partnership with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.
Massive celebrities like Andry Williams, Alice Cooper and Gene Autry donated thousands of dollars each for the sign's metal makeover and the contract for the rebuild was awarded to none other than Pacific Outdoor Advertising Company -- which would later become OUTFRONT. Letter by letter, it was our talented builders, carpenters, and construction workers that re-formed our city’s biggest landmark, just doing what we do best: well-crafted, showstopping, and iconic out of home.
IBuilt far before well-known tourist spots like the Griffith Observatory or the Santa Monica Pier, the Hollywood Sign is an instantly recognizable symbol of Los Angeles in film, television, art, and culture. Today, the fully intact and beautifully maintained landmark is known as a global icon, representing the bustling billion-dollar industry that has continued to grow around it. We’re proud to be a small part of its enduring history, that tells the story of both the power of our city and the power of OOH.
You can be a part of that story too. Contact OUTFRONT today.
Author: Keemia Zhang, Marketing Intern @ OUTFRONT
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