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95 Comments
- kenvsryu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+96Go directly to http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonydemarco/sets/72157600075508212/
- rancidchickn, on 10/12/2007, -4/+85But now who's going to tell me what to buy?
- noahhoward, on 10/12/2007, -4/+76People would actually have to make an effort to make their cities interesting and colorful *gasp*!
- Seth024, on 10/12/2007, -10/+77Don't worry. If you're using Internet Explorer, you'll still get pop-ups and adware.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+65Graffiti would take it's place making it ten times the city it is.
A world without billboards, one can only dream. - Atroz, on 10/12/2007, -6/+57Excellent! About time that somebody did something. Society does not need constant advertising. Let people look up ads when they want to see them. Don't shove them in my face every minute of the day.
- malonesm, on 10/12/2007, -3/+52I wish my city would ban advertising like this. One farmer rented out his land that bordered the highway near my house and 8 billboards were put up; 2 poles, 4 on each, stacked 2 x 2.
The worse part were the ads that were put up were all for Tom Raper's RV -- talk about a great name to have people associate with your town as they drive by... it get's better. Tom Raper's RV isn't even in my town, it's over 100 miles away, in a different state, and on a different highway.
The signs also sat on a high point in the area and the light aura can be seen from 3 miles away at night. gg. - freegrace, on 10/12/2007, -0/+46The difference between São Paulo in December and now is huge. There are still a lot of billboards, so there must be some sort of exemption or loophole. I think the city looks much better now. Driving in São Paulo has always been difficult. Especially for me since I do not know the city very well, so I would use the billboards as navigational landmarks. Now I actually need to know where I am going. Maybe I´ll by a map, but it was always easier to just "turn right at the 40 foot Gisele."
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+40 The same goes for the Smokey Mountains...You'd be nearing a scenic view and right in the middle of it would be a billboard screaming:"See Rock City!"
Very irritating.
- vertinox, on 10/12/2007, -6/+41@brewno2k
A quick personal question. Do you use Firefox brewno2k? And if you do... Do you use Adblock?
And if you do use Adblock, would you mind taking that to the next level?
I certainly wouldn't mind. - jgrgg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+36taking pictures of something that isnt there...thats new
- goatrandy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+32"I think that I shall never see,
a billboard lovely as a tree,
undeed unless the billboards fall,
I shall never see a tree at all."
--Odgen Nash - malcam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+29Makes a nice change, these days you can't look any where without seeing adverts - even bloody lamp posts are being modified to display illuminated posters. Cities would look so much nicer without all those bright distracting adverts. Being advert-free is the reason why Wikipedia and the BBC are two of my favourite websites.
- AkiraXXX, on 10/12/2007, -3/+31I lived in a Hawaii for some years and I currently live near Vermont. Both states outlaw billboards. Both states are beautiful. It is sad that almost every square inch of one's view is coveted to make one a consumer. Buses, billboards, bus stops, shopping bags, newspapers, TV, radio and even the TV shows themselves are trying to make us the good little consumers the corporations and the government desire. I really don't mind people advertising their products, but do I have to be assaulted with it everywhere I go? I applaud Sao Paolo.
- AgentX24, on 10/12/2007, -0/+27Moscow still is a sad and grey city, except covered by advertising everywhere that you can see...
- sadmancomputer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+28oh man I wish this could happen in los angeles.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27I take it Raper RV's don't have any windows?
- Revan01, on 10/12/2007, -6/+26... What if i want a Raper RV though?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+20It looks so..... PEACEFUL.
- LexisNexis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16It's worked very well in Hawaii, we don't have any billboards or giant signs advertising McDonald's and Taco Bell at every freeway off ramp.
- ekso, on 10/12/2007, -6/+19I agree with Ramiro. I lived in Sao Paulo once and I can just imagine how much sadder the city must have become without the ads. You can't really see that in those pictures because there's always a nice blue sky on the background. But Sao Paulo weather is known for it's shadowy gray days with infinite light rain ("a terra da garoa") and there's nothing but gray concrete in most areas. The advertisement industry in Sao Paulo is world famous, and was something that made the city "hip" and "cool".
Yes, there could be murals or art instead, but the mayor office doesn't have money for that (and even if it did, half of it would be eaten by corruption). - RodrigoKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13GPS is not forbidden. It's just not that common... yet.
- ravan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Just came back from SP a few hours ago; its true that ads are taken down all over the city, but its by no means 'eerie'.. there's still tons of billboards (that might get taken down eventually) - but as along as the lawsuits are ongoing, they can keep them up. It does look quite funny tho.
re. grafitti - thats already ALL OVER there.. - mtriper, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Interesting but misleading. São Paulo is still full of billboards and advertisement, only the non-compliant stuff was taken down. These city regulations have been very tough on people who made a living from advertisement and some condo fees that were subsidized by building-side billboards have gone up to unmanageable levels. For those who travel these streets on a daily basis, “Sampa” has always been an eyesore of mangled marketing, so I commend the regulators for pushing the law a little harder. The ugly metal skeletons would eventually be taken down or rust on their own. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure lobbyists will soon get their way and have it all back up, plus some.
- mp3dog, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15Sign pollution sucks... and you can find it in just about every major metropolitan area in any country. I'm sure Sao Paulo will look better without all that crap.
- an0n1m0us, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16eerie?
It's completely beautiful!
I wish more cities would do this.
If things look less colourful, get artists to replace awful advertising. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Wish we could get some sort of before and after pictures.
- logstaa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11That's what makes driving through Vermont such an enjoyable experience. You can actually see the green mountains of The Green Mountain state.
- j0c1f3r, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12advertising is wayyyyy outta control......its everywhere now.....ruining everything.......o well....
- DearSergio, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13Looks like one of the major N.Korean cities. You know, where most of the buildings are only half buildings. Kinda looks like everyone picked up their ***** and left.
- NatieB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Now that would be nice... adblock for my eyes
- smackhero, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9@strictnein:
how is this an issue of free speech? disallowing large obstructive/ugly billboards that only multi-million-dollar corporations can afford to rent/buy in public areas isn't an infringement on free speech. public spaces are shared by all, so the people have the right to regulate how businesses can operate within them. since businesses refuse to comply with the city's guidelines, they have outlawed all public advertising. and good for them, perhaps now genuine artists (such as graffiti artists) will get hired to decorate these empty spaces. schools can have their own students paint murals over the former advertising space.
you don't seem to think that people have the right to regulate shared public spaces and that businesses have the right to advertise wherever/however they want.
this isn't an issue of free speech. it's an issue of setting down boundaries for the commercial exploitation of our society by businesses. some of us don't want our cities to look like a nascar race. we can think of better ways to decorate our cities than to be constantly assaulted by advertisements. there's already plenty of advertising opportunities in media. it's time for people to reclaim the environment they live/work/play in. - Amoeba16, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11Kudos, Sao Paolo.
- Daniel591992, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"turn right at the 40 foot Gisele.'
that's it! i'm going to brazil! - scottc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5That article didn't tell the whole story. Signs identifying businesses are still allowed. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/12/news/brazil.php
- shanmac, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8They should do this in all cities in North America. Billboards distract people from driving safely and are annoying.
- owenadam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Just last night there was a video on Digg about a trailer for TMNT being projected on the side of an office building. I guess projecting temporary billboards will follow as a means for advertisers to get around this.
- muzzy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Billboards are banned in Maine, and I've gotta say, it is very nice. Living here, you don't so much notice their absence, as you notice their horrific presence elsewhere. Horrible form of advertising.
- kd1s, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5The State of Rhode Island has recently imposed a moratorium on LED billboards. Personally I like them but I can see how they'd be a distraction on the highways.
Now they also drive box trucks around the city with all four visible sides of the box being huge LED displays running ads. It's a little disconcerting. - Daniel591992, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4you've reached the target audience here...
- thonnas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Congratulations to Sao Paulo, and welcome to the ad free world :)
I PWNED CLEAR CHANNEL
2 years ago i started a ad hoc movement to stop outdoor advertising in our beautiful city, Bergen, Norway. Together with a lot of wonderful people we did succeed in making Bergen the biggest ad free city in Scandinavia.
So call your friends and make your city ad free :)
BTW, Clear Channel has sued the city-government for 7,7 million dollar. The court date isn't set yet, but the city's lawyers says CC doesn't have any case. (Lets hope so - diggimator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Not all money from billboard ads have been going to public funds or transportation in the first place, so in many cases taxpayers don't have to pay anything more for not seeing the billboard ads anymore. And even in the cases that people have to pay a little extra for the lack of ads, people might still be more willing to pay that extra fee than to see the eyesores return. Money well spent.
- smackhero, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2how is a ctiy's regulation of public spaces censorship? zoning laws = censorship? putting up obstructive signs in public spaces is definitely something that should be regulated. and the only people who can afford these billboards and advertisements that have taken over our cities are multi-million-dollar corporations. this might actually allow small-time artists, sculptors, etc. to be hired to decorate these former advertising spaces. your idea of free speech and censorship are pretty distorted. Ayn Rand would be proud of your capitalist indoctrination. enjoy being a myopic ideological tool.
- BrotherGA2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Wow!
I'm Brazilian but live in the US now. was there in December, too bad I wasn't there to see this--let me tell you, Sampa has ads EVERYWHERE. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Thats great! now if only we could have that in the usa. Could we ban tv commericals and radio commericals to?? Id love it.
Know what makes me mad? i went to a gas station to get some gas, while filling the car a speaker comes on at the pump, very loud i might add, with commericals! Talk about getting screwed over, it doesnt make the gas any cheaper... - Le3f, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Billboards wouldn't be so bad...
...if you were the one getting payed.
Being forced to look at ads; it's something most people have come to accept.
Think about it though...
Did they give you a choice? Shouldn't you be the one getting payed? - c5mjohn, on 10/12/2007, -7/+9While I agree with the sentiment that you don't want to be bombarded with advertisements, I can't get past the freedom of speech issues. Looking at the pictures reminded immediately of one city, Pyongyang. They banned ALL outdoor advertising within the city limits. Will this apply to political advertising? What do they want to do next? No commercials on television? No t-shirts that advertise a product? Will they make it illegal to advertise McDonalds on their futbol players' kits?
The mayor said "When you prohibit everything, society itself becomes your partner in enforcing the law" and reporting violations." The fact that this was part of the goal is disgusting. They decided to not make exceptions partly to CREATE an Orwellian police state! They would rather "zero things out" (direct quote from the mayor) then worry about free speech issues.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/12/news/brazil.php - Atomic1fire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It would be a bad thing
but apparently people don't like ad company's trying to make them custominions
perhaps if they worried more about quality and satisfaction they wouldn't need advertising so much
I don't care ether way - smackhero, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i'm sure the advertising industry can survive on reasonable advertising that's within the city's guidelines--as in other countries. also, street-side advertising is a small percent of the advertising market. there's still tv, radio, magazines (the bulk of advertising for small to mid-sized firms) and newspapers.
if anything, it just means more people will change from advertising to less annoying industries. i say good. just like we ought to outlaw spamming altogether and make spammers find productive jobs that serve society rather than annoy it.
also i don't see a bunch of advertisers (a white collar job) and marketers all of a sudden turning into street hoodlums. most have probably gone to college, so it should be expected of them to have gotten a well-rounded education that ought to have imparted in them skills that can be implemented in various types of jobs. - c6mjohn, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5@vertinox There is a huge difference between you installing adblock on your own personal computer and the government passing legislation saying google adsense ads cannot be displayed on sites outside of google.com
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