This makes more sense in the context of the GP comment if Reddit's ad network is found on sites outside of Reddit. I confess ignorance to these particulars.
With respect, this is a crucial point if one desires to be taken seriously by gun owners when talking about guns, because confusing it reveals a lack of basic knowledge of the subject.
This all sounds exactly like Solzhenitsyn's descriptions of Soviet factory production, where the work near the end of the month was always rushed out the door to meet quotas.
The way he tells it, no one ever got in trouble for subpar products. But if production numbers were down, someone was going to the gulag.
Apparently, consumers were aware of this and would try to obtain goods that were produced near the start of each month.
How about "Signal Ahead" light boards on the back of semi trailers, which relay the traffic signal to the cars behind. Like Flashing Rear End Devices on trains, which operate by telemetry and function as red signals.
Ought to be maintenance free and a nice way for the big trucking lines to differentiate their public face - similar to those aero ground effects that are showing up on trailers.