goldengod

Boxed by hawksanddoves

Advertisers are up in arms over the recent decision to ban advertising outdoors in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. For years, advertisers have refused to follow municipal guidelines and are now suffering the consequences.

Tony De Marco has excellent photos of the advertising ban available in his Flickr account. The photos are simple, sparse and I love seeing the rusted out remnants of where ads used to be. Take five minutes and go see what the city looks like underneath the ads.

There are large arguments on either side of the ban, but according to the government, the people have spoken. Advertisers will continue to fight for the ability to advertise, but public opinion seems to be overwhelmingly in favour of the ban.

The law is “a rare victory of the public interest over private, of order over disorder, aesthetics over ugliness, of cleanliness over trash,” Roberto Pompeu de Toledo, a columnist and author of a history of São Paulo, wrote in the weekly newsmagazine Veja. “For once in life, all that is accustomed to coming out on top in Brazil has lost.”

(Thanks, Jhayne)