It was David Ogilvy, in his 'Confessions of an Adman' biog, who had the following to say about posters: "As a private person, I have a passion for landscape, and I have never seen one improved by a billboard…When I retire from Madison Avenue…(I) will travel the world…chopping down posters". This invasion by brands of public space was a theme revisited by Naomi Kline in No Logo. And Banksy has talked about Brandalism, as a riposte to those who criticise his work.
Well the images below dramatise their points rather well.
They are from an article called 'Moving Pictures - Advertising, Traffic and Cityscape', from the journal Contemporary Aesthetics. I didn't find the article itself that interesting. But the images challenge us to grapple with two opposing questions: too invisible to be effective vs. too all pervading to be (morally/aesthetically/whatever) acceptable. Neither is good news to those of us who make this stuff. Or those paying for it. And it applies to any media, not just outdoor. So what are we going to do about it?
