Mystery of Chattanooga area's 'Ubiquitous' billboards solved: 'It's the Real Thing'

The story was revealed Friday for those black-and-white billboards with the single word "Ubiquitous" on them that popped up all over the Chattanooga area. Coca-Cola will use the 60 billboards to promote its "Share a Coke and a Song" summer advertising campaign.
The story was revealed Friday for those black-and-white billboards with the single word "Ubiquitous" on them that popped up all over the Chattanooga area. Coca-Cola will use the 60 billboards to promote its "Share a Coke and a Song" summer advertising campaign.
photo Blake Savard, right, shows Meredith Agostinelli how to use the Shazam app to find the song on the Coke bottle May 27, 2016 in front of the Tennessee Aquarium.

The secret has been revealed behind those black-and-white billboards with the single word "Ubiquitous" on them that popped up all over the Chattanooga area in April.

Coca-Cola will use all 60 billboards to advertise its "Share a Coke and a Song" summer campaign, officials from the soft drink company and Fairway Outdoor Advertising said at a press conference Friday outside the Tennessee Aquarium in downtown Chattanooga.

"This has gotten more attention than any ad campaign we've done in years," said Scott LaFoy, the billboard company's area general manager.

Curiosity over what Ubiquitous meant led to media coverage and even an unauthorized website by someone who claimed to be behind it and promised to reveal what Ubiquitous meant a month ago - but never did.

The "Ubiquitous" campaign ran only in the Chattanooga area, LaFoy said, and it was an idea generated here by Fairway employees. It was partly meant to show the power of billboard advertising, he said.

Coca-Cola, which was first bottled in Chattanooga, has a long history of billboard advertising here, officials at Friday's event said.

"It's the place where the world first had Coke in a bottle," said Darren Hodges, division director of Coke United's Tennessee Valley Division, which is housed in a brand-new, $67 million Coca-Cola Bottling Company United distribution center and regional headquarters at 2111 W. Shepherd Road.

Officials from Fairway and Coke say they kept mum until Friday - even to family members - though LaFoy admitted he told his mom, an out-of-state, retired English teacher.

"She thought it was the greatest thing," he said, since the campaign promoted a word that otherwise might not be in everyone's vocabulary.

Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or twitter.com/meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.

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