Verizon? Being jackasses? Perish the thought. Can we put them in a cell next to Borf?

Good question re: whether they paid D.C. to do this. If they didn't, D.C. needs to bitch slap them with a fine for each one. If they did pay, then even though it's lame corporate graffiti, I'm reluctantly okay with it. Without a commuter tax, you gotta pay the bills somehow....

I wondered what Marie Johns was doing out on Connecticut Avenue this morning at 3am with a can of orange Krylon.

I would encourage those of you who have spotted this graffiti to report it to the Department of Public Works, via the Citywide Call Center at 727-1000.

Walking home from work tonight Verizon was projecting the same advertisement above onto the side of buildings downtown (H St. and 10th-ish). I'm don't think this kind of guerilla marketing works in DC as well as it would other places...

i actually didn't have all that much of a problem with Borf or his copycats. didn't totally buy the various alleged idealogical (including allegedly anti-idealogical) motivations or inspirations of it, but wasn't all that bothered.

verizon stenciling bothers me.

that said: they caught and punished borf.

verizon is even more brazen.

i am bothered by it and i think, at minimum, the principles of universality and of proportionality should apply here.

that is, the proprotionality of the punishment to the offender's situation and likelihood to *feel* it.

yeah, i'd say putting the CEO of verizon in a cell like Borf almost fits.

PUNISH corporate crime.

this is small potatoes, sure, but do this much then... do the small stuff.

cause they sure as fuck don't punish other corporate crime.

this is an open and shut case.

I would tend to agree that Verizon should be fined here. Perhaps with incremental fines. But this marketing is probably not the work of Verizon directly, but rather an outside agency. Verizon probably is somewhat aware of the scope of the campaign, but it's not as if the CEO is out there himself doing this. If you really want to punish someone, punish the ad agency that is the one actually doing the vandalizing.

As for whether this is better or worse than John Tsombikos, I think it's clearer better. We can quickly identify the perpetrator and stop it. Tsombikos vandalized all over this city for years before he was identified (and he never used a paint that would wash away with a rainstorm).

Besides, if you truly can't stand the opressive nature of commercial advertisements in the public arena, you can petition the government to change the regulations that govern them and they can enact strict fines on violators. Vandalism like that of Tsombikos is by its nature unregulatable. It usurps the authority of the people to control their own public space. All for the self-glorification of one person, and perhaps the vicarious thrill of some others who love to poke sticks in the eyes of authority, for whatever reason.

If public art is what you want, then petition the government to allow and support it. If not enough people agree with you, than maybe you need a better understanding of what the "public" part of public space means.

i'd fine or jail or whatever all of them. from the captain of the ship or the direct actors. facilatators, coconspirators all of them.

verizon benefitted from this directly and enabled it so they do need to feel it. even if it was outsourced.

this is really petty on one front, but it is inane.

Chris,
Really no speech is "free speech". The question is whether the speech in question is protected from government regulation by the first amendment. Commercial speech (not "corporate speech", there's not such thing as "corporate speech") is in fact protected by the first amendment, although not to the same extent that normal or political speech is.

But, more importantly, commercial speech IS more protected than vandalism. There is no first amendment protection to vandalize, regardless of the content of vandalism. In this instance both Tsombikos and Verizon are vandalizing and neither receives protection under the First Amendment.

And again, I suggest that if you really think Tsombikos' work was a worthy addition to the public space, then why don't you petition the government to allow his form of vandalism? If it is the public's space, shouldn't the public decide what's right for it, not one bored spoiled brat with a spray can that wants to treat DC like some sort of desk in detention hall?

I just sent Verizon an email through their website. it will probably lead to nothing but it made me feel better.

I would guess they are banking (correctly) on apathy and the public's "learned helplessness" in relation to advertising to protect them. And without the recent example of Borf, I think they would have been completely safe. But given that this city has recently become very aware of the legal ramifications of public stenciling, they may have over-played their hand.

The usual corporate graffiti campaign is bad enough, but aside from the vandalism, Verizon should be punished for lack of imagination. They didn't hire graffiti artists to promote their product. They didn't come up with a cryptic slogan for people to puzzle about. They just slapped down a bunch of straightforward stenciled plain text ads, without even an interesting font to indicate a minimal level of creative effort.

I don't think phonebooks are like Flavor Flav; not all press is good press for them.

Vandalism? They distroyed property? Maybe a bit distasteful, but they haven't destroyed anything. The stuff apparently washes off.

got this from my Adams Morgan listserv. wherever you see them, take note and follow up:

There is a guerilla advertising group that is paid to place graffiti
advertising in Public Space. Another location was identified to me yesterday that was orange containing a Verizon advertisement. Now I understand there are two on Connecticut Ave sidewalks in Woodley Park near the Chipotle and Mr. Chen's. I would appreciate it if anyone sees such advertisement to e-mail me so that we can ensure it is removed and the parties properly sanctioned. You may reach me at denise.wiktor@dc.gov.

Thank you.

Denise Wiktor
Public Space Manager
District Department of Transportation