Advertising run amok

On my way home from Jackson this past weekend I noticed something interesting. Actually, it's quite a long drive to/from Jackson so I noticed lots of things, but this one caught my eye. Heading north on I-65, between Cullman and Decatur, I noticed a large billboard on the side of the road. Personally I'm not sure how effective billboards are as I have become so conditioned to them I simply tune them out. At least I thought I tuned them out, but maybe I don't. Anyway, there was this great big billboard advertising something called something like the "M3 MRI" at Cullman General (or whatever the actual name is) Hospital. According to the sign, the M3 is the most advanced MRI machine in ALL of North Alabama. As the sign was so large, I had time to read all the particulars. The machine did sound pretty darned amazing, but it raised a pretty obvious question in my mind.

Just who shops for an MRI machine from a roadside billboard? Never having had an MRI, I'd think you'd just go to the hospital your doctor worked at and have the MRI done there or the doctor would suggest somewhere else to go. I know some people (e.g., Caffeine Mom) have serious claustrophobia issues and so would prefer an "open MRI", but I still have trouble seeing potential users picking an MRI provider from a billboard. While driving down the road, do they have the following conversation:

Bob: Hey, check out that billboard describing all the advantages of the M3 MRI machine at Cullman General Hospital.

Tom: Yeah, that sounds pretty cool. I think I might just go have a full body scan.

Bob: Now that you mention it, I've been experiencing shortness of breath, a lingering cough, and a general sense of lethargy. [Sorry, all my medical knowledge comes from the TV show House.] I think I'll have one too.

I have trouble picturing that, but it seems to be the only way this would be an effective advertisement. Maybe take out an ad in the "health and wellness" section of a newspaper or something -- I see the potential advantage of that, but the billboard? I was flummoxed.

Oh, I saw the following comment to a post on curling over at Marginal Revolution:

I think curling is great - it's basically the same as bowling, except that your beer doesn't get warm.

See, I knew curling was the sport for me!