Sony Graffiti Ads Draw More Anger

Philly.com is running the confirmation that Sony paid a vendor to lease wallspace for their PSP graffiti ads. Philadelphia groups are slamming the ads as affronts to clean urban spaces, and the Licenses and Inspections Department in the city is planning to cite the business owner. From the article: "Jake Dobkin, copublisher of the Gothamist Web site, considers himself a street-art aficionado. He said the Sony campaign hit his SoHo neighborhood in Manhattan a few weeks ago with not only 'dozens' of spray-painted murals but 'hundreds' of posters of the same cutesy youths. He took aim at Sony for trying to dupe people like him. 'It's clearly a large campaign, and deserves a thoughtful, measured response,' he wrote on his blog. 'Here's mine: corporate graffiti sucks.'"

Comments

Solution...

[WTBF]

Just go round and spray $sys$ infront of all the adverts.

So?

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought the basic problem with graffiti that people were complaining about was that it is usually done to other people's property. If the property owner is consenting to this, where's the problem? Seems to me, it's a bunch of people who don't like graffiti itself using the property arguing as a ruse to get their way.

Re:So?

[__aaclcg7560]

The artworks are basically unmarked billboards pretending to be street graffiti and can be argued as "false advertising" by those who are able to stick a large multinational corporation with a big fine.

Re:So?

[Bogtha]

The awful Christmas decorations some people put up look like crap too, but we don't forbid people from putting them up on their own property, do we?

Since when is bad taste illegal?

Re:So?

[heinousjay]

You have an interesting definition of false advertising. Incidentally, I'm using your technique and redefining interesting to mean something private. What I mean by it is left as an exercise.

Re:So?

[bigman2003]

I owned a business for a long time- a new business opened up next to mine, it was listed as an 'art gallery'. It had the crappiest art you've ever seen (I don't mean like a 6 year old, I mean like an idiotic 19 year old...which is what it was.) They put old couches out in front of their place, spray painted their half of the building, put up horrible hand-painted signs, etc. etc. This was for a building we shared where I was paying $2.50/square foot- back in 1993.

One of my customers was actually the city code enforcement officer. When he came into my place of business, I asked him about the signs, couches, etc. etc.

His only answer was, "There ain't no law against ugly."

Re:So?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Philadelphia has strict billboard regulations. Companies have to get a permit from the city's Licenses and Inspections Department before putting up an advertisement.

Sony did not get permission ahead of time for its graffiti ads, the L&I office confirmed yesterday."

I dont think anyone who posted even read this.Since, obviously, it is illegal.

Deaf ears.

[grub]

Complaining won't work. Spraypaint swastikas on the ads, they'll be erased in no time.
(not that they're nazis, but swastikas always get the clean-up crews in action.)

Re:Deaf ears.

[Jeff DeMaagd]

This would indeed be quite effective, but it would also be in utterly poor taste.

Then spray paint a manji. Not that it would help with ignorant or geometrically challenged people.

Maybe there was a reason they used posters in NYC

[vertinox]

He said the Sony campaign hit his SoHo neighborhood in Manhattan a few weeks ago with not only 'dozens' of spray-painted murals but 'hundreds' of posters of the same cutesy youths.

Oh... Myabe because graffiti in NYC is classified as... You know... A felony.

With a entire office of police devoted to graffiti crime.

Edgy? Please!

[Crash Culligan]

They think they're being cute and getting their product into the public memespace, whatever the hell that is. They kind of are, but it's backfiring.

The problem is, it's not backfiring quickly enough to suit me. So I propose we help them. We need to co-opt and corrupt the vacant-eyed gamins, in their style, and make them completely abhorrent to the general public. Only then will Sony achieve the vicious, visceral backlash and legal ass-reaming that these jokers are begging for.....

...say. Ass-reaming? I think I know where to depict the PSP being played with in this new campaign...

Bill Hicks was right

[GrumpySimon]

... if you work in advertising, please, kill yourself. Do it for the good of everyone.

Maybe Philly City Hall should focus more on...

[smaffei]

The approximately 380 murders that have occurred in Philadelphia in 2005.

We have more murders here "per capita" than New York City. I can stand the "little sony dudes" murals if there wasn't a person being killed by gunfire every day in the streets.

The meeting on this:

[Luigi30]

Exec #1: Well, our ads aren't getting enough people to buy our PSPs. What can we do?
Exec #2: We can improve the product, give it better battery life, better screen, like Nintendo did with the GBA SP!
(All execs laugh at him.)
Exec #3: We could try to keep it real in the hizzouse with graffiti! We'd license space on corporate buildings and spraypaint these awesome tags on the wall! We'd be the hippest gangstas on the planet and get more urban punks to buy our stuff!
Exec #1: Marvelous idea! We'll do that, whatever he said.
Exec #2: WTF.

Whoa, What An Outrage

[Paul Slocum]

It's a billboard in slightly different kind of ink. Big deal. If you haven't previously noticed that advertising can be deceptive, cheapen the arts, and degrade the aesthetics of our living spaces, then you have been numbed.

Re:Whoa, What An Outrage

[Crash Culligan]

It's a billboard in slightly different kind of ink. Big deal. If you haven't previously noticed that advertising can be deceptive, cheapen the arts, and degrade the aesthetics of our living spaces, then you have been numbed.

So I guess your position is that we've lost the war and should just give up. Who's the one that's been numbed again?

Maybe, but I think it's more likely that the parent was comparing modern billboard advertising to the Sonyfitti in order to drag both down to the lowest level.

Some of us would like to keep our streets clean, and keep the advertising in areas where it's, you know, allowed. The issue this article is talking about is putting advertising up without a permit. Sorry to tell some of the other people in here, but in every city I know of, it is illegal to sell advertising on your property without a permit.

Again, I think the parent's point, and the point made by many comments under this write-up, is that advertising has become ubiquitous, in a very bad, can't-spit-without-hitting-it (and I hope you brought a lot of spit) way. The comment is that there's too much advertising, and not only shouldn't it be where it shouldn't be (not the tautology it seems to be, given the topic), but it probably shouldn't be in some of the places where it's currently allowed.

Under the circumstances, c'mon, who wouldn't be numbed? Companies have to resort to these "guerilla" tactics (note the sneer-quotes; it can never be an edgy, independent tactic if a major conglomerate is doing it) because people have become so familiar with conventional commercial placement that they instinctively ignore the ads. Penetration drops, the ads lose effectiveness, and they have to resort to one of two things:

1. Create more entertaining advertisements, or
2. Find new places to advertise.

To justify it, they probably have a Formula: If the benefits of advertising (increased sales and mindshare) outweigh the costs of advertising (materials, placement, penalties for illegal tactics, loss of life and limb), then it is a "good" advertising campaign.

The company has no conscience, and feels little pain. The Formula is one of the few nerve endings it has. We need to spank it there.

Re:You're Fired!

[MBraynard]

They purchased this space, too.

The problem for this Rent cast member, living in SOHO of all places and complaining about 'corporate billboards', is that someone actually got paid to put this up, rather than being your typical crack head putting it up, which would be A-OK with him.

Re:RTFA

[AvitarX]

Billboard laws are pretty much ignored in Philadelphia. They were looking at starting to fine illegal billboards to get more revenue in the budget,and clear channel through a hissy fit (don't know what they decided to do). I heard on the raidio that it is estimated more than 50% of all billboards/signs are in violation of the code withing Philadelphia.

If Microsoft did this

[aka_big_wurm]

I would hate to see what people would be saying if Microsoft did this for the 360, it would have made the main page, and have alot more posts all pissed at MS.

Re:If Microsoft did this

[arkanes]

Microsoft did a similiar thing a couple years ago, placing "stick on" MSN butterflies all over the sidewalks in Manhattan, except there they really were illegal cause they hadn't licensed anything from anyone. And there was almost exactly the same amount of distaste over the advertising.