Yes, that's the normal procedure (or some catch them by hook after takeoff), but this wasn't, from the sound of things, a company that normally did classic banner hauls. It could also be a translation issue of what exactly they were supposed to deploy to show the gender.
Don't the banner planes usually take off with the banner deployed? Could be wrong, but I thought I'd seen that
Yes, that's the normal procedure (or some catch them by hook after takeoff), but this wasn't, from the sound of things, a company that normally did classic banner hauls. It could also be a translation issue of what exactly they were supposed to deploy to show the gender.