Once a company thinks they can do that not too expensively though.... watch out.

And to those who say it can't be done... appears like maybe it could, although you'd actually do it on a new moon, not a full moon... Link

Of course, that was from a spacecraft, don't know if people on the ground would have been able to see the dots. And I have no knowledge of argon lasers, my guess is that is like saying I want to power a time machine in 1955 to Doc Brown. So, probably still fairly implausible.

'My friends had fun and drank Coca Cola for revenge'

Lens Larke is amused.

/obscure

A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Pepsi on the moon)
Her face and arms began to swell.
(and Pepsi's on the moon)

I can't pay no doctor bill.
(but Pepsi's on the moon)
Ten years from now I'll be payin' still.
(while Pepsi's on the moon)

The man jus' upped my rent las' night.
('cause Pepsi's on the moon)
No hot water, no toilets, no lights.
(but Pepsi's on the moon)

If this ever does happen, whatever company does it, I will never buy their product again. Even if is something I buy everyday..

I doubt they really care...but I'm just saying.

Heinlein invented this idea in his 1950 story "The Man who Sold the Moon". Even down to it being a cola maker's logo!

The only difference is, the guy talking up the idea said it would be done using rockets to spread colored powder on the moon, so the logo would be permanent.

haha Iran is so stupid.

Which story was it where Coca Cola (I think) had a spaceship going around blowing up stars so that the night sky had a DRINK COKE advertisement for years?

The stupid thing is that this would be a great way to advertise.

COKE ADDS LIFE!

thaduke: A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Pepsi on the moon)
Her face and arms began to swell.
(and Pepsi's on the moon)

I can't pay no doctor bill.
(but Pepsi's on the moon)
Ten years from now I'll be payin' still.
(while Pepsi's on the moon)

The man jus' upped my rent las' night.
('cause Pepsi's on the moon)
No hot water, no toilets, no lights.
(but Pepsi's on the moon)

DAMN! That's where I was going.

/nice

maxximillian: COKE ADDS LIFE!

THAT was it!

That was Red Dwarf, yes?

ArcadianRefugee: maxximillian: COKE ADDS LIFE!

THAT was it!

That was Red Dwarf, yes?

Yes!

None of my friends in HS could figure out why I started laughing like a mad man when I got to that part. I didn't even try to explain.

dletter: And to those who say it can't be done... appears like maybe it could, although you'd actually do it on a new moon, not a full moon... Link

It can't be done. ;-) That pic is of the Earth, not the Moon, and the satellite can only just make out the laser source. By the time it got to the moon and back again, you couldn't light up a whole logo with it.

midigod: dletter: And to those who say it can't be done... appears like maybe it could, although you'd actually do it on a new moon, not a full moon... Link

It can't be done. ;-) That pic is of the Earth, not the Moon, and the satellite can only just make out the laser source. By the time it got to the moon and back again, you couldn't light up a whole logo with it.

Now that I reread the page, that makes much more sense. As I said after though, I was doubtful it could be done.

First thought: That's ridiculous, the Moon is Coca-Cola territory.

Sober second thought: It never occurred to me (in the few seconds I thought on the article before opening the thread) that using the New Moon would be a lot better and cheaper, but that's a point for the feasibility study. Second, instead of an analog image from a single great laser, you could do each pixel separately with a smaller laser aimed at a particular area of the Moon's surface. That brings the engineering obstacles down a second or third order of magnitude.

Personally I think space advertising is a sacreligious assault on the Heavens (but not Heaven) and that it should never be allowed. People have a right to see the skies as our ancestors saw them, reasonably uncluttered with human crap. This is not theology, it is religio, piety, or respect for Nature if you will. I think even atheists and free enterprisers should respect the common patrimony of the species and not destroy it.

Of course, space, like anything else, will become a tragedy of the commons once corporations get involved as they are doing right now, so unless the UN or somebody with similar international influence gets their act together and forbids this, it is probably only a matter of time before the glorious visage of the Moon is as ruined as a twit with face tats.

Conclusion: it's almost doable and it's as wrong as a psychopathic supervillain writing Chairface on the Moon. There ought to be a law against it.

Didn't Rolling Rock do this whole 'moonvertizing' ad campaign a few years ago?

Oh, noes! The Iranian people have Photoshop skillz. And they are mocking the Great Satan and possibly, gently, even the Ayatollahs! This is far more dangerous than Photoshop in the hands of the Axis of Evil. This could lead to democratic mockery of authoritarian and fascistic power.

If Iran becomes a democracy, it could be dangerous. And I have a sneaking suspicion that it is at roughly the same stage of religio-political development as the proto-democracies of Europe were in the early 17th century. shiates and Calvinists, same battle (même combat), as the French Left would put it.

I love the error message idea. Iran obviously has geeks. This is Geek think.

brantgoose: I think even atheists and free enterprisers should respect the common patrimony of the species and not destroy it.

IMO, any Atheist worth their salt would be more offended by "space altering advertising" than a theist.

brantgoose: Conclusion: it's almost doable and it's as wrong as a psychopathic supervillain writing Chairface on the Moon. There ought to be a law against it.

There will be. Heck, there may already be. We already have laws that restrict and regulate advertising in public. We already have treaties that govern what happens on the moon, and that no nation can colonize it.

Heinlein did it

(6+)

/obscure...

I forget the name of the short story but Arthur C Clarke wrote a humorous one about just this very thing.
They were testing the tenuous atmosphere of the moon and some wiseacre messed with the nozzle so when the test was finished "Coca-cola" appeared across the face of the full moon.

Perhaps this story inspired the rumor?

Found the story! Its "Watch This Space" written in 1956. Looks like Heinlein and Clark came up with the idea simultaneously

Nice to see Iranians are humans too.

Delawheredad: Found the story! Its "Watch This Space" written in 1956. Looks like Heinlein and Clark came up with the idea simultaneously

Yes! I swore I remember reading that as a kid.

HumanBeingsSuck: Heinlein invented this idea in his 1950 story "The Man who Sold the Moon". Even down to it being a cola maker's logo!

The only difference is, the guy talking up the idea said it would be done using rockets to spread colored powder on the moon, so the logo would be permanent.

That was a great story, and totally feasible. But, I also remember another author's story concerning a experiment that was to be conducted from the Lunar surface not too far into the Dark Side, where a chemical compound was to be sprayed upwards. As it reached past the shadow zone, it'd catch sunlight and people would see a glow from Earth across the dark area. Instruments on the Moon and Earth would study rate of expansion, brightness, and other things. But, someone paid a scientist big bucks to place a tiny stencil on the nozzle, and since there isn't any atmosphere to dissipate the chemical, there was a slowly expanding ad for a certain cola (not named, but hinted at by mention of it's bottle) seen for nights afterward.

Yea, sure. But what about whalers on the moon?

neurothing: Heinlein did it

(6+)

/obscure...

Moke wouldn't fit...

Pay Every Penny Support Israel?

I got fired by my boss
(Pepsi!)

This is actually a Reagan era joke.

"Mr President, the Russians have sent a ship up and they're going to paint the moon red"
"Okay."
"Mr President, the Russians have already painted the moon 25% red!"
"Okay."
"Mr President, the Russians have painted the moon 80% red and the people want to know what you are going to do about it?"
"Call NASA, tell them to take some white and paint a Coca-Cola logo"

I hear they shoot coca-cola drinkers in Iran.

wildcardjack: This is actually a Reagan era joke.

"Mr President, the Russians have sent a ship up and they're going to paint the moon red"
"Okay."
"Mr President, the Russians have already painted the moon 25% red!"
"Okay."
"Mr President, the Russians have painted the moon 80% red and the people want to know what you are going to do about it?"
"Call NASA, tell them to take some white and paint a Coca-Cola logo"

Glad to see this has been covered.

brantgoose: Oh, noes! The Iranian people have Photoshop skillz. And they are mocking the Great Satan and possibly, gently, even the Ayatollahs! This is far more dangerous than Photoshop in the hands of the Axis of Evil. This could lead to democratic mockery of authoritarian and fascistic power.

Obviously, we need to invade Adobe.


/our first warning can't be a JPG mushroom cloud!

Pepsi on the moon. How did it get there?

/not obscure

This proves once again that Muslims are ignorant, uneducated, morons.

redhook: This proves once again that Muslims are ignorant, uneducated, morons.

Unlike yourself?

Skyfrog: redhook: This proves once again that Muslims are ignorant, uneducated, morons.

Unlike yourself?

You sound Muslim.