MapQuest launches billboards to defend Lake Ontario name

MapQuest has launched a billboard campaign across several major North American cities to maintain the name ‘Lake Ontario’ on its maps, defying a U.S. executive order that renamed the body of water to ‘Lake America.’

In collaboration with creative agency Quality Meats, the company installed six-foot-tall posters in Toronto, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The advertisements are designed to mimic the aesthetic of classic, printed MapQuest directions from the early internet era, featuring vintage highway icons and banner advertisements.

Following the decision to reject the name change—which has already been adopted by Google Maps and Apple Maps for U.S. users—MapQuest experienced a significant surge in popularity. The app reached the number one spot in the U.S. App Store in both the navigation and overall categories, seeing usage rates approximately 50 times higher than normal and gaining over two million downloads.