Coke sprays bandit signs all over the Hospitality Zone

New Orleans has been virally marketed upon and is reacting... um... virulently.

Lunanola writes:

The following is a letter I sent this evening to elected officials and law enforcement; I’m tired, so it was brief and to the point.

Honorable Mayor Landrieu, Councilmembers Palmer and Clarkson, and NOPD 8th District Commander Walls:

The attached photos depict advertising associated with the NCAA Men’s Final Four event for Coca-Cola products — spray-painted on sidewalks and pavement (including flagstones) in the French Quarter and Faubourg Tremé (and perhaps other) neighborhoods in our city. I ask, is this really how we want companies to behave when our city hosts national events?

This advertising is also prohibited by a recently adopted New Orleans ordinance

I've borrowed one of her photos here. I hope that's okay.



The ordinance she cites was passed last year by city council as part of their then very heated crusade against "bandit signs"

Tighter enforcement of laws barring illegal dumping and "bandit signs" will begin in earnest in mid-September, after an amnesty period designed to get violators to tidy up. Bandit signs include placards, posters and other advertisements affixed to trees, utility poles, light fixtures, street signs and parking meters. It also includes signs displayed in parks and playgrounds or along neutral grounds.

Starting Sept. 12, the city plans to dispatch employees to "photograph, count, log, remove and dispose of bandit signs and litter," according to a news release. "Owners" of most signs will be fined $25, with signs affixed to trees garnering a $50 penalty.

It wasn't immediately clear how officials will determine culpability if a sign's origin is unclear or disputed. A law authored by City Councilwoman Stacy Head and authorized by the City Council in June states that a sign itself serves as evidence that people or entities identified on it authorized its placement and can be billed for the cost of removing it.

Exceptions to the prohibition include newspaper display boxes, signs on public property leased to private businesses, and campaign signs, which may be posted 48 hours prior to and following an election. Realtors also may post signs 24 hours before and after an open house.

Here are some examples of the sort of signage the council members may have meant to shut down with this ordinance.















Meanwhile the giant Mercedes-Benz logo installed atop the Superdome this week doesn't appear to be much of a problem. But, of course, the Benz bandit sign is an example of the "public property leased to private businesses" clause in this ordinance and thus an exception. Probably we can say the same for the Mr. Peanut bandit sign park on Simon Bolivar Avenue. But these coke ads appear to have slipped through the cracks somehow.

Probably this is by design. Coke's official response today is that they have "misinterpreted their permits" but actually guerrilla marketing campaigns like this thrive because of the controversy they generate. In this case, the ginormous Coca-Cola beverage corporation wants to be seen as a roguish outlaw much like the kids in this TV advertisement they've created here.



You see The Man doesn't want you to be creative and express your subversive enthusiasm for a global consumer product. But Coke knows you better than that and they're going to express that enthusiasm for you, Stacy Head's stodgy ordinances be damned! All they're asking is that you "open your mind" as the tagline to this ad reads... presumably by imbibing the neurotoxic artificial sweeteners in Coke Zero.

Apparently the people at NOLA.com (itself pretty much a glorified ad company) were impressed. The headline above Michelle Krupa's report on this episode currently reads "Coca-Cola sidewalk ads spark fury among French Quarter residents, New Orleans officials" but that's only after it was changed from this more congratulatory statement which I screen-captured because.. well I had a feeling there would be some editing to come.



See the ads caused a "sensation" on the popular viral mediums. In other words, mission accomplished, Coke!

All we've really learned here is that when high-profile events come to town, our city is pretty much going to get painted like a whore by advertisers whether we agree to it or not. The city leaders have already demonstrated a clear understanding of this phenomenon and are currently taking steps to ensure they aren't left out of the action next time. Once the Mayor gets his "Hospitality Zone" board up and running, this sort of thing won't be a problem since there will then be an appropriate channel through which the bribes permit fees can be distributed.

And then it's the residents who will have to go vigilante. Anybody know where to buy a bucket of gray chalk?