The Eiffel Tower was once a giant advertising billboard

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception 

Did you know that for almost a decade (9 years to be exact), the Citroën car company ‘rented‘ the Eiffel Tower and had it’s brand name emblazoned on it with 125,000 glowing lights? The sign was erected in 1925 and remained there until Citroën went bankrupt for the first time in 1934. The ironic thing is, their bankruptcy was partly due to incredibly high electricity bills.