art not ads

After indulging in a little “web Zen” i.e. typing “artnotads” into Google and seeing what’s out there, I spotted that Art Not Ads is mentioned in the Broken Windows blog back in July 2006. Wikipedia discusses the “broken windows theory of urban degeneration with these words:

“Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it’s unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside. Or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants there or breaking into cars.” A successful strategy for preventing vandalism… is to fix the problems when they are small. Repair the broken windows within a short time, say, a day or a week, and the tendency is that vandals are much less likely to break more windows or do further damage.

An interesting notion. The Broken Windows blog describes itself as a “thorn in the side of marketing”, and they point out that advertising isn’t working , citing ad-company Titan’s use of their own billboards to advertise, erm, themselves. This harks back to comments from a while ago on the Pledgebank notice board that when people justify advertising as a means of funding public services, they’re missing the point. Ad execs don’t sit around in boardrooms all day wondering “How on earth can we find more cash for the public, dammit?” - they sit around wondering how they can make more cash for their clients (and hence themselves). Advertising hoardings are cash-cows, pure and simple, and the agencies want more and more of them. There seem to be so many that they are actually left vacant. And yet worthy causes such as charities and Platform for Art are left to pick up the crumbs from the table, and told to be thankful. What a bizarre situation.