Saturday, September 26, 2009

Kill advertising!


See this poster? Do you notice anything unusual? That's it, a graffiti... It says "Stop the logorrhea"... Referring in this case to excessive advertising in public places. It was made live, in front of me, yesterday evening (Friday) by Le collectif des déboulonneurs de Paris, a pressure group demanding that advertising space be reduced to the minimum. Every month they organise happenings like this to attract Parisians' attention. Let's be realistic, the city needs advertisers' money so bad at the moment, that there is absolutely no chance they win... See more photos here.

25 comments:

  1. Must admit that I'm of two minds about this. readers of my magazine sometimes complain about too many ads in the mag. Can you imagine?

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  2. I mean, what do they think pays our salaries? On the other hand, it's everywhere. At least they could make it look good (not boring, as here).

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  3. And sometimes advertising is also just plain information. Information that a new product has been launched...

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  4. Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs
    Blocking up the scenery
    Breaking my mind
    Do this, don't do that
    Can't you read the signs?


    Love that song.

    (In the making of) I thought you were going to show a photo of a lone gunman, so to speak, but that was a whole posse! Scary.

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  5. I think you managed to make what Alexa thought was a boring ad very interesting, Eric. Love your angle and that you literally caught the graffitists "red handed." :-) Now I'm off to look at your other photos of this to see if there is an "in-action" shot.
    Happy Saturday!
    -Kim

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  6. I saw a similar graffiti on the Champs Elysees in June. You can see a picture of it here:
    http://thesillyenglishkaniggit.blogspot.com/2009/06/anti-advertisement.html

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  7. I absolutely get your point, Eric—and after visiting your other (very interesting) blog, I totally see where you're coming from! But I also think this ad is so much better WITH the graffiti than without, IMHO. When I lived in Paris in the '60s, I was surprised to see ads in the cinema; a Parisian exchange student who stayed with us here in the '90s was surprised to see so many ads on the TV. Let's face it—they're with us.

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  8. I accept ads. However, when I pay for a magazine, I don't want the higher percentage of content to be ads. I do get fed up of pages and pages of the things. Editorial should outweigh the ads for paid publications imo.

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  9. I'm with Lynn. I accept ads, I know they pay the bills (i.e., keep my costs down--free TV, anyone?). But I think the higher percentage of content should be editorial or entertainment, not ads.

    As for graffiti, don't get me started!

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  10. My computer sits before me, at my command. I can use it, or not. Le botteille de vin aussi est ici. I can drink it or not. But, I needed to learn about the wine store, and the computer company. Advertising informed me of their existence. I am tired of the constant e-mails from Dell, but I love the notices of wine sales from Sorella, my favoriet wine shop in Minneapolis. The point? (Excuse me, my glass is empty of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. Forgive me for drinking Italian wine as well as French.) The point is that we love some advertising, hate some. Some people love LOUD ads yelling about beer, cars, blah blah blah, which I hate. Some people like photo ads of mountains, islands, or le Tour Eiffel. Every one of us likes some ads, hates others. Keep the mute button handy, get up to feed the dog while the ad is running, leaf past the ads in the magazine.

    But I believe you do not have the right, legal or moral, to damage something that belongs to others. It's easy to be destructive. It's difficult and takes moral discipline to change something in society. Most people take the easy way out--and accomplish nothing but increasing the cost to everyone. The ad company recovers the cost of replacing that sign by charging their customers, and the beer company raises the price of your beer to cover the increased advertising cost. Damage a sign, pay more for the beer you drink when you celebrate a successful "raid". Figure it out, people.

    Oh, I'm sorry, did I express an opinion?

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  11. On another note, tomorrow my friends get married. Tommy joined Craig and I in Paris in 2005--before PDP began. The three of us saw Cimetiere Pere Lachaise together, and the tombs of Seurat, Signac, Gericault, Colette, Sarah Bernhardt, Heloise and Abelard, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Moliere, Pissaro, Chopin, David, Caillebotte, Proust, Corot, Daubigny, and Daumier. Tommy introduced me to "Paradise Cove", a beach restaurant in Malibu where you can eat a bucket of fresh seafood for $20 while watching the waves roll in.

    Daniela is from Romania and I am so glad Tommy met her and they are getting married. She is a peach. I love them both.

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  12. Cheers to the newlyweds!!

    "There is nothing nobler or more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends." - The Odyssey, Homer.

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  13. Hey! Tommy and Daniela! A beautiful couple. Jeff introduced them to us at a French cafe in Venice, California (go, drink your Italian wine, Jeff) the night Tall Gary, Carrie, and even PHX came. Wasn't Pont Girl there, too? And it was the first time we met the beautiful Maria from San Dimas.

    Give Tommy and Daniela our soCal PDP fan-pod love.

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  14. Jeff, I am with you.

    I detest people who vandalize private property maliciously. It is a wanton insult to the creator of the (art)work.

    The Kronenbourg ad might not appeal to everyone's aesthetic sense, but it deserves to be in its original form.

    Look at the handwriting, it gives penmanship a really bad name.

    I am pissed off, seriously.

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  15. First of all, I completely agree with Lynn. I apply that very same principle to my internet surfing, as well:

    Some advertising is necessary, of course, and advertising can be a good thing. But too much of a good thing can be intolerable. Just watch American TV for a while and tell me how you can defend this constant barrage of silly ads.

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  16. they are advertising to stop advertising!

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  17. I LOVE IT! MagicEye, You "hit the nail on the head" as they say in the US.

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  18. In defense of ads, who'd have thought it!

    As for le collectif, to me their stance looks like simplistic criticism with no consideration of reality. I don't like the vandalism, either. I'm with you Jeff - we all use ads all the time, so who's to say how much is too much or whose ad should be expendable. Also, can one really weigh percentages of content vs. ads? Don't the ads have to pay for much more than just the content in a publication?

    To Daniela and Tommy - it was lovely to meet you and I wish you a wonderful, happy life together!

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  19. Magiceye's right. What gives this group to right to advertise their cause, when they insist others shouldn't?

    Agree with Jeff too. Shouldn't damage others' property. Negates any sympathy I might have had with them.

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  20. Congrats to Tommy and Daniela whom I DO remember meeting.

    The only places I remember devoid of advertising in cities were Communist countries. If it is the same now, I don't know, as I visited what was the USSR, Hungary, Poland,Czech.WAY back in the early 70's, and haven't unfortunately returned.( I was in college in Italy at the time and we were on an Easter break tour with my school.
    It was strange how lifeless it all looked to the "American capitolist pig" eye.
    Just an observation, no feelings either way.

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  21. It's a catch 22 as they say....we all advertise, whether it's the logo on the shirt we have on or the personal recommendation we make to our friends of that “great restaurant” we ate in last nite. Of course it does go too far sometimes...like the commercials from TV that they play in a theater before a movie now, or the local supermarket that put TV's on every line. In the end, we all have choices...we use a different market and go to the movies 10 minutes late, knowing that's how long they play the ads for. I don't know that it requires vandalism, but then again France is a culture that embraces protest unlike anywhere else I have ever traveled....



    Jeff, have fun at the wedding....Fall one's are the best!



    Sean

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  22. I agree with the collective. We need one here in Los Angeles.

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  23. Just a quick hi as it goes fast like an ad oveLYreallyove the comments.
    Have a nice time.
    Bises.

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  24. L'info s'offre a celui qui la cherche, la pub s'impose à celui qui ne la désire pas. Comment peux-tu ne pas voir la différence ?

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  25. The irony is delicous. About this group you write:

    "Every month they organise happenings like this to attract Parisians' attention."

    What they are doing is advertising.

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