NYT: "Keep the Sidewalks Ad-Free"

As reported in this article, the practice of sidewalk art or more precisely, sidewalk advertising seems like it is becoming the pop up of the material world. Yes, we have had outdoor advertising forever and sidewalk ads are nothing new but the acceptability of it seems to be waning.

It's no surprise really. You can't go anywhere without being bombarded with commercial messages anymore. For marketers, it is the eternal need to "cut through the clutter" Every effort is designed to insure that it will be seen by the target audience. The problem is that less and less consideration is being given to the acceptability level of these tactics and the negative effect they can have on the long term relationship with the customer.

I've said this before. Short term gains. Long term losses. It only works for a short period of time.