Visual Pollution

We live in a world full of advertising. We see it on billboards, on TV, in the newspapers and online. The last time I went to the grocery store there were even LED advertisement screens hawking goods at the end of every checkout lane. Is there no place sacred anymore?!

The issue of excessive advertisements is even more pronounced in large cities. Sao Paulo Mayor Gilberto Kassab recently decided that he has had enough with the clutter created by advertisements in the city. He passed a simple yet effective law that essentially banned outdoor advertising in Sao Paulo. The result was a facelift of the city that generated praise from just about everyone - including local advertising firms.

The issue of outdoor advertising is being debated in cities across the world, including Toronto, Kiev, and Beijing. It is plain to see that overzealous advertisers can create an eyesore within cities, but the economic benefits often remain more camouflaged. The future of big city advertising may go beyond simply identifying how much advertising is appropriate, but also creating new methods of presenting advertisements in a less "in-your-face" manner.