Curbing the Commercialization of Public Space
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/curbing-commercialization-public-space/ Total ad expenditures in the United States have risen from $50 billion in 1979 to $200 billion in 1998. Advertising is seeping into places we once assumed were off-limits.
Forinstance, in major cities facades of buildings as well as whole buildings are plastered with a single ad. The Gap and other stores project advertisements from lamps onto sidewalks at night. Public beaches are imprinted with adveretisements for iced tea and television shows.