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IBM's Dirty Ad Tactics Bother SF Officials

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the product-placement dept.

Olmy's Jart writes "From CNN: IBM Seems to have gotten into a bit of trouble with San Francisco city officials over some pro Linux graffiti. They claim their ad campaign is done in "bio degradable chalk" but that, even after a rain storm, "the penguins were still there ... smiling broadly." IBM Advertising Guy (wearing long-hair wig and tie-dyed Tux shirt, dirty jeans): "Hey man, relax, like, y'know? We're all just, like, self-motivated hippies here, right? Be cool, be cool, we'll clean it all up."

10 of 316 comments (clear)

  1. this is SO weird... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5

    Let's see...

    we have the ultimate blue chip company, IBM getting in trouble for spraying graffiti advocating a hippie-freak OS?

    I'm going to bed. This day is too weird.

  2. The IBM ad guy... by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 5
    ...sounds like he'll be celebrating 4/20 Holiday.

    - A.P.

    --
    Forget Napster. Why not really break the law?

    --
    "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
  3. It's NOT "biodegradable chalk" - it's spraypaint by bis · · Score: 5
    ... well, at least the stuff that adorns sidewalks, all over Cambridge. So anyway, one of my roommates and I went outside, to see what the stuff was really made of, and here is the story:

    http://24.147.16.240/



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  4. It's brilliant! by Dwonis · · Score: 5

    You've got to hand it to those marketroids at IBM. Think about it: if the stuff they used to make the ads would have washed away, then only San Francisco people would have seen it. Because they got themselves in minor trouble with the law (or city by-laws), it's heard all over the country via CNN. Every CNN watcher has now heard that "IBM strongly backs Linux".

    This is great for Linux, and it's great for IBM. Somebody at IBM deserves a raise.
    ------

  5. Feh by Greyfox · · Score: 5
    IBM is many companies masquerading as one. Many individuals in many different business units Get It. And it seems like somewhere there are some people who actually learned from the company's mistakes with the handling of Team OS/2 (They didn't do a bad job with Team OS/2 when it gets right down to it, but they could have done a lot better.) The whole thing about being keen on open standards isn't an act. They really are keen on open standards.

    On the other side of that coin, I'm sure many people in the AIX teams would rather Linux just went away. I doubt we'll ever see a Linux port of the Lotus Notes Client. There's a very uncool business unit somewhere in the company working on CPRM. IBM will exhibit a split personality as a company because it has one.

    Even if the entire company can tow the same line, it takes a long time for the company to change course. The processes and beurocracy that have evolved insure that the company's not as quick on its feet as RedHat or Lokisoft can be. I started pushing platform planning to think about Linux 5 years ago and they're just now to the point where they're thinking about it.

    Ultimately, the company exists to (gasp!) make money, so RMS and company will probably declare them Evil and yadda yadda yadda. If I can work for them and get paid to enhance this platform, I'm not going to bitch about it. I like programming open source. I like being able to pay rent and eat, too.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  6. Exactly what they want! by inburito · · Score: 5
    Putting up few ads in SF wouldn't result in too much results but make them illegal and, presto, you get free publicity with all the major newspapers getting interested etc.

    Any publicity is good publicity to some but this can't be bad publicity in any case. It's just few harmless biodegradable graffitis that'll wash out in few weeks (or someone from ibm will wash them).

    Calvin Klein (or benetton) got criticised for his provocative ads bringing him even more publicity, how is this any different?

    Very clever, indeed.. It sure made an impression at slashdot.

  7. Be glad it was linux... by cperciva · · Score: 5

    Just imagine the uproar this would have caused if people woke up one morning to find DAEMONS spray-painted everything.

    --
    Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
  8. forget SF by SupahVee · · Score: 5
    If they REALLY wanted to make their mark, IBM would have done it on the streets of Seattle, more specifically, Redmond.

    I'm sure Bill's little head woulda just popped if someone had painted "Peace/Love/Linux" on the Microsoft moniker in front of the building. *grin*

    --
    "See, we plan ahead! That way, we never have to do anything now."
  9. Re:Bullshit, absolute bullshit by e_n_d_o · · Score: 5

    IBM's investing a billion bucks in Linux...well, okay, maybe they're investing a billion bucks in their Linux strategy. If IBM becomes a leader in the Linux industry they will have to make the Linux industry quite a bit bigger in the process. I think this could be a very good thing.

    Right now, pretty much anyone who is pushing Linux is a good guy to me. Anyone who helps Linux cut into Microsoft's market share by another percentage point has my vote. One more Linux (or any other *NIX) server instead of one more NT server increases the chances that my pager won't go off at 2:30am and I'll actually get a full night's sleep.

    I don't really care what stupid ideas they have to use to get people to buy into it. I don't think anyone is truly going to be fooled into believing this crap except maybe the PHBs who got sold on using a desktop operating system on the server a few years back. These are the people that make the decisions and will fall for this kind of shit, so lets just pray they do.

  10. Linux Gang by Raster+Burn · · Score: 5

    I bet the local gangs were worried someone was taking over their turf. Actually, they were probably just really, really confused.