Get your advertising out of our city! Or leave it. Maybe. I don't know...

[Ajidica]

I think that for some cities, their charm is in the completely urban mass market aspect, such as New York or Tokyo. If Tokyo were to loose its advertisements, it would make Ajidica sad by looking less like a Cyberpunk future.
Sao Paulo on the other hand, isn't known for being an urban mass market so loosing the advertising won't really negatively affect its charm.

 

[Mise]

I think if a city has pretty buildings then it's a shame to cover them up with advertising.

But honestly, what percentage of a large city is actually covered in advertising? <1% I'd say. I mean, looking out my window, I can see a 2-story vertical billboard for Lady Gaga, but literally no other adverts at all. Just buildings.

 

[warpus]

I think it depends on the advertising. In places like Piccadilly Circus and Times Square, the ads are kind of part of the landscape and they do a good job actually livening the place up and making it unique. But most ads are just ugly billboards or paintings on walls and those generally suck.

Totally agree.

When I went back to Poland for a visit back in 2004 (for the first time since we left), there were billboards EVERYWHERE. It seemed like the whole country totally jumped on the whole capitalist bandwagon and took it to the extreme. I appreciate the spirit, but it's way too ugly.

 

[asbestos]

If this scheme gets popular, it would be cool to have a couple of cities specializing as advertising super-havens to preserve their uniqueness. Other than that, advertising really is an eye-sore wherever you expect to see something more interesting.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

But instead of causing economic ruin and deteriorating aesthetics, 70 percent of city residents find the ban beneficial, according to a 2011 survey.

Yes, but what happened to job numbers and other economic indicators? You're being rather vague here, article.

And the picture of Sao Paolo in the OP doesn't seem to be of a place similar to Times Square. It looks like an avenue. I don't see that many billboards on Wall Street.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Show me Sao Paolo in the daytime, and I can give a better opinion.

With all that advertising, New York, Tokyo, and London just look like ugly messes. When I go to a strange city (not that I travel much anymore, but you know what I mean), I like to look at the architecture, the parks, the interesting nooks and crannies... I do NOT want to look at the same stupid ads I can see here, multiplied a bazillion times bigger!

Honestly, how do people stand all that sensory overload? It's horrible!

 

[Zelig]

Goddamn, Sau Paulo looks awesome without advertising.

 

[NYHunter]

That is not how most of New York City looks. It's not even how most of Manhattan looks.

As for the issue. Generally, no I would not support it. If a local community was strongly in favor of banning advertising in their specific area, then sure, but not for the city at large.

 

[Mise]

Yeah exactly, the vast majority of big cities have virtually no advertising whatsoever. And in those cases, the occasional ad provides a nice distraction when you're stuck in traffic...

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Honestly, how do people stand all that sensory overload? It's horrible!

Going to places other than Times Square might help a bit. Yes, there are other locations in New York City.

 

[Aleksey_aka_al]

"Advertising ban"? Sounds like a nice feature for the next SimCity game. If I can't have it in my real life at least I'd be happy playing it...