Clear Channel Outdoor Runs Nationwide Digital Billboard Tribute to Dolly Parton
2026-08-31 · via invidis
Clear Channel Outdoor has launched a nationwide digital billboard campaign called "Forever in Every Color" to mark the death of Dolly Parton, who died this week at age 80. The campaign is running across the company's US digital out-of-home network, according to the company, using colorful creative built around Parton's music career, entertainment work and philanthropy.
For operators of digital networks, the campaign is a reminder of what large-scale DOOH is good for beyond ad sales: a fast, coordinated cultural response that can go up across an entire network within days of a news event. Clear Channel Outdoor frames it that way itself, saying the campaign shows how the scale and flexibility of digital out-of-home can respond to major cultural moments. The announcement does not say how many boards are running the creative, how long the campaign will remain up, or whether the space was donated or came from Clear Channel Outdoor's own inventory.
The tribute is not an isolated case. London's Piccadilly Lights and New York's Times Square also displayed tributes to Parton this week, as previously reported by invidis. Those screens are among the most visible digital advertising sites in the world and routinely run cultural tribute content alongside paid campaigns, a practice that has become standard for major celebrity deaths and anniversaries.
Digital signage's longer history with Parton
The Clear Channel Outdoor campaign follows other, longer-running digital signage and DOOH work tied to Parton. In May 2025, Lamar Advertising announced a yearlong pro bono partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, committing more than $2 million in digital out-of-home media to support the childhood literacy program Parton founded in 1995. According to Lamar, the Imagination Library had distributed more than 270 million books worldwide at the time of the announcement and was mailing more than three million books a month across the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and Ireland. That partnership built on an earlier Lamar donation of billboard space in Tennessee in 2022.
Videri, a New York-based digital signage platform, also marked Parton's death this week, posting on LinkedIn about a 2019 installation that used its displays to showcase albums from her career. The company described it as a small part in celebrating her legacy.
Taken together, the three initiatives show three different uses of digital display technology tied to the same public figure: Videri showcasing her music catalog on indoor signage, Lamar committing paid media inventory to her literacy nonprofit, and Clear Channel Outdoor using its outdoor network for a broad public tribute. For operators, it is a useful illustration of how the same class of hardware and network infrastructure gets applied to entertainment content, cause marketing and reactive cultural programming depending on the client and the moment.
The announcement in full
Reproduced from invidis for reference. Digital Signage Magazine did not write the text below.
“Forever in Every Color” campaign remembers the country music icon following her death at 80, while earlier OoH and digital signage projects highlighted her music and philanthropy.
Clear Channel Outdoor has launched a nationwide digital billboard campaign honoring Dolly Parton following the country music icon’s death this week at age 80.
Called “Forever in Every Color,” the campaign is running across the company’s U.S. digital network, using colorful creative to celebrate Parton’s music, entertainment career, philanthropy and connection with generations of fans.
The campaign is an example of how the scale and flexibility of digital OoH can be used to respond to major cultural moments, bringing a shared tribute to communities across the country.
As reported by invidis, London’s famous Picadilly Lights and Times Square in New York also paid tribute to the country music legend.
The tributes follow another major OoH initiative connected to Parton. In May 2025, Lamar Advertising announced a yearlong pro bono partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, committing more than $2 million in digital OoH media to promote the childhood literacy program.
Founded by Parton in 1995, the Imagination Library provides free books to children from birth to age five. At the time the Lamar partnership was announced, the organization had distributed more than 270 million books worldwide and was mailing more than three million books each month in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and Ireland.
Lamar used its digital billboard network to raise awareness of the program, encourage donations and help enroll more children.
The partnership extended a relationship between Lamar and the Imagination Library that began in 2022, when the OOH company donated billboard space to promote the program in Parton’s home state of Tennessee.
Videri, a New York-based digital signage platform, also reflected on its own connection to Parton following her death. In a LinkedIn post this week, the company recalled a 2019 installation that used its displays to showcase a selection of albums from Parton’s career.
“We had the honor of playing a small part in celebrating Dolly Parton’s incredible legacy in 2019,” Videri said.
The three initiatives use digital displays in different ways: Videri highlighting Parton’s music, Lamar promoting her literacy work, and Clear Channel Outdoor using its national network to remember her broader cultural legacy.