111–120 of 140 posts
Good on them. In Los Angeles, the tonier the neighborhood the fewer the billboards. The savagery of monster electronic signage and visual barrage increases substantially as one goes into the less affluent locations.
I think in the near future we'll have empirical evidence that most ads are malicious exploits of flaws in human psychology. Ideally, all ads should be plain text listing of facts. Pictures only allowed for demonstrative purposes. And they should be listed in "Ad sections", like a phone book.
Then John B. Watson and the study of behaviorism came along in the early 20th century. Persuasion techniques were systematically identified and studied, and with the advent of mass media (TV, radio, internet), the cognitive shortcuts meant for neighbors and friends (tribe members) to persuade each other became flaws to abuse on a massive scale for profit and political power.
I think it's well recognized by anyone who is interested in this stuff that persuasion techniques are an abuse of human psychology. Cialdini's books are perhaps the most famous. Everyone merely tells themselves, "other people are doing it, and their products or ideas are worse, so we have to."
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> they're not statements of fact, they're opinions At this point, you need a federal bureaucracy policing practically all retail commercial speech.
The law could be written so that individuals could sue companies that advertise with opinions rather than facts. Kind of like ow ADA laws are set up in California. The bureaucracy would be the court system.
If they say Coca-Cola is refreshing, and I found it's not, courts now say it is reasonable to assume that the statement is subjective. If the reasonability test is changed they will no longer be able to advertise opinions.
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Newspapers, magazines etc. Basically however they want.
Those are just other forms of advertising, and the entire print industry is dying anyway. Where's the real answer?
It's kind of an open secret that the city of Santa Barbara (CA, US) has banned several forms of public outdoor advertising: we have no billboards, no promotional posters, no taxi toppers... It's delightful, and very high on my list of reasons why I enjoy living here. Every time I leave I'm reminded how noisy space is when it's filled with advertisements. I wholeheartedly recommend others advocate for similar policies…
Lots of places in America have severe restrictions on advertising. Hilton Head, South Carolina; and along the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey leap to mind. I think along some of the toll roads in Houston this is also true (It's been a while, I might be remembering that wrong). Billboards are banned in downtown Chicago, so big companies rent storefronts in tourist areas and put in stores that are not supposed to ma…
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Taxi toppers are an interesting one to ban - I suppose the city can simply refuse to license taxis that refuse to sign a contract agreeing to not use toppers but any advertisement on a private not otherwise restricted vehicle would be the providence of the state DMV - possibly... I'm not certain how a lawsuit would come down trying to determine if vehicle appearance could be restricted by a state or if that right was…
> any advertisement on a private not otherwise restricted vehicle would be the providence of the state DMV ??? The state DMV neither writes nor enforces laws.
It's kind of an open secret that the city of Santa Barbara (CA, US) has banned several forms of public outdoor advertising: we have no billboards, no promotional posters, no taxi toppers... It's delightful, and very high on my list of reasons why I enjoy living here. Every time I leave I'm reminded how noisy space is when it's filled with advertisements. I wholeheartedly recommend others advocate for similar policies…
I wish we had that on the tube in London. Instead, you ride an escalator and see upwards of 20-maybe 30 video ads on the way. And that's before a marketing firm commissions the redesign of a tunnel so an entire stretch of walkway is 100% ad, like a shitty Disney ride. Or you arrive to one of the big terminals and gigantic screens are blasting even more ads at you. This is, of course, after you spend 40+ minutes on a…
I have yet to find a more rabid opponent to out-of-home advertising (in general) and billboards (in particular), and she will explain why it is evil at the drop of the proverbial hat...
As an amateur artist she will start with visual pollution and then veer into psychological damage... /grin
In Lyon the public ad space was traded to an ad company in exchange for funding and maintaining the city's public bike share scheme. It's a trade off, of course, but for just 30 euros à year I (and the rest of the city) get virtually unlimited bike share. The anti-ad groups here would be happy for the public ads to disappear but it would be a real shame if the affordable bike share went with it. FWIW there is a real…
This is what taxes are for.. ban advertising, increase taxes on these companies, and pay for the bikes with taxes
I hope germany learns from france, this is great news and very inspiring