Dennis over at LA’s Ban Billboard Blight answers the question “Can’t you find something more important to be bothered about?”
Fighting The Outdoor Advertising Invasion: A Trivial Pursuit?
From time to time, someone will take offense at our activities on the grounds that advocating for protection of the visual environment from an onslaught of commercial advertising [...]
Why is the San Francisco Examiner doing a better job of reporting on illegal advertising than the New York Times?
Less than 10 days ago the Times published a story on billboards appearing on vacant storefronts. It almost reads like an ad itself:
Taking advantage of all the abandoned retail spaces in urban areas, marketers are [...]
via publicadcampaign.com:
View NYSAT Project Map 04-25-2009 in a larger map
This map shows illegal/unpermitted NPA City Outdoor locations located in Lower Manhattan. All the ads together cover approximately 29,450 square feet of our public environment.
On April 25th approximately 30 participants whitewashed nearly 120 street level billboards in broad daylight between the hours of 10:30am and 2:00pm.
At [...]
Just sent the following letter to the New York Times:
Re: As Storefronts Become Vacant, Ads Arrive
Peter Sherman of advertising firm BBDO was quoted in your story, “All you have to do is walk out the door for lunch and notice the number of vacant storefronts — and they tend to be in prime areas, in [...]
April 14, 2009 – 10:32 am
The once-mighty Los Angeles Times, which is fighting for its life, is under fire by its staff for a four-page Sunday advertorial section promoting the movie “The Soloist,” which carries the Times’ logo and contains an interview with its columnist Steve Lopez, who is played by Robert Downey Jr. in the movie opening on April [...]
Guest post from AAA Reader James Ewert:
A certain greasy chicken franchise is adding another item to its menu: pothole patching. In Louisville, KY and potentially in a town near you, what was once a city service paid for by tax payers might become another avenue for advertising. The fried chicken restaurant extended an offer to [...]
February 18, 2009 – 9:00 am
Introducing our newest contributor, Jordan Seiler! Jordan usually writes over at Public Ad Campaign and is a primary driver behind an AAA associated project, illegalbillboards.org. Jordan is known for his unabashed position on reclaiming advertising space for art. He not only calls for civil disobedience, but follows through in his own actions. For the past [...]
December 22, 2008 – 11:40 am
The New York MTA, in collaboration with CBS Outdoor, wants to cover the windows of subway cars with advertising. This story at the NYTimes Cityroom blog is peppered with rationalizations from the MTA. Here’s one of my favorites:
“[T]ransit officials say that advertising revenue is not the main motivation for the program.”
(Transit officials, not [...]