Just as toxic sludge creeps into the groundwater that communities unwittingly drink, so advertising has crept into the music of our lives. What is it about music and advertising running off into the sunset together that makes me uncomfortable? And why is it that whenever the topic is broached, a fight ensues between vehement opposition and lackadaisical shrugging?
Given that this is a huge topic that needs a decent exploration, I’m going to take my time and explore it in chunks, appropriate, since favorite songs in advertisements often make chunks rise in my throat.
Music and advertising didn’t always go together. There were jingles (my dad can still sing all of them from his childhood) and their were songs, and ne’er the two did mix. As Carrie McLaren wrote in a piece called “Licensed to Sell” in the Village Voice in 1998, it wasn’t until Nike bought the rights to the classic Beatles song “Revolution” (sold by the imitable Michael Jackson) that companies really caught onto the emotional capital exposed by popular music. Read More
Introducing a new blogger, Paul Sachelari, Esq. Paul is the AAA’s legal counsel and will (hopefully) sneak away time from his busy schedule to occasionally write for us. –Steve
NY Dept. of Buildings Strikes Back!
These vinyl “wallscapes” are inexpensive compared to the physical construction required for billboards. They can skirt zoning laws for billboards, and can be placed in dense areas where billboards won’t work. I’ll let an industry insider explain:
That all sounds great if you’re one of the few who benefit from promoting corporate products in major cities, but for those who live in them, the benefits of obscuring architecture with flashy persuasive messages isn’t as clear. Oh, and by the way, there are laws that prevent covering every space with advertising. So help those laws be enforced – if you see an obnoxious vinyl wallscape in a residential NYC neighborhood, give the Sign Enforcement Unit a hand and call 311.