Adventures in Advertising

I should chime in here...and ignore all this back-and-forth about CC and the TV show...BTW, this is what the point of the ad is: to get people thinking about it.

Now, please understand that this may very well be stealth advertising...maybe. It usually happens more in heavily trafficked areas with lots of pedestrians.

In the last couple of years there have been large (the size of a big pizza), thick vinyl stickers advertising mostly television shows that are stuck down to the sidewalk all over the City. It's very obnoxious and the stickers can be slippery when wet.

There may have been a crackdown because I haven't seen them for quite some time.

The other, more recent stealth advertising gimmick is printing gaudy ads on doormats. Yes, doormats. Doormats that are pretty much basic and thin but will hold up for a long time. You'll find a whole block if townhouses will suddenly have one on almost every stoop/doorway. Very annoying. We got hit in the Village on Waverly, in fact the whole back got littered with these. The mats were huge, stunk of plasticizer/VOC and all had to be disposed of.

Every once in a while you see one of those stealth projection advertisers that project commercials onto walls at big intersections. It can be hard to figure out where the projection is coming from because the parked vehicle across the street is outfitted for this task and fairly discreet. There was a large projection the 14th Street Balducci's last fall/winter (before it closed)...in the bank building there...and I think it may have been before the supermarket had closed for the evening.

Another not-so-stealth form of advertising that has come in this last year, and I find to be atrocious, is the empty "prime retail available" location where all exterior masonry and windows (sometimes on the outer surface...sometimes on the inner surface) are covered in a thick vinyl, garish advert turning the building into a billboard (apparently not legal).

Some of them were using very, very bright LED screens which were both a distraction (like the ones on buses and subway entrances...which are not acceptable) to drivers and a hardship for neighbors and pedestrians. There was a very bright on in Chelsea on 8th or 7th Avenue that was up for a while last year but appears was removed due to complaints.

Sprint has one on Broadway or 4th Avenue below Union Square right now that may, or may not be, a Sprint location...I'm not sure. It is much more tasteful than others I've seen although it also uses the exterior adhered vinyl which is ugly.

Posted by: BrooklynGreene at September 4, 2009 3:31 PM

Yes, you and I may be offended by the ads and make a resolution not to "buy" the product being advertised...but in most cases these ads have been for TV shows I don't/wouldn't watch or for NFL or somesuch. What is the "NFL"? Is it like the AFL-CIO?

Anyway, there are probably lots of people who succumb to the advertising message...at least somewhere in their brans register the thing being promoted...

I would frankly rather see a holiday-themed nylon flag (preferably a tattered, faded one) such as a turkey with a "Pilgrim" hat and musket than the ad pictured in the photo above...

DH, I wouldn't put it past people actually accepting money to have that ugly ad stuck in their front "yard"/garden...who knows...still, from my experience, it seems the big advertisers with a certain budget level are willing to try all sorts of new things.

Enjoy Everyone...

Is the Brownstoner staff taking a break on Monday?

Posted by: BrooklynGreene at September 4, 2009 5:37 PM

Ugh...excuse all my typos and word replacements.

"You'll find a whole block if (OF) townhouses will suddenly have one on almost every stoop/doorway. Very annoying. We got hit in the Village on Waverly, in fact the whole back (BLOCK) got littered with these."

Chalk it up to age.
...imperfection is one of my charms.

Posted by: BrooklynGreene at September 4, 2009 5:40 PM