People Are Pretty Pissed About an Ad Replacing a Williamsburg Mural That Was… Also An Ad
A sure sign that we’ve hit peak branding/integrated marketing/activation/whatever it is people are calling these things: a user posted an outraged missive on the Brooklyn reddit today about a Williamsburg Buff Monster mural that’s been covered up, writing, “I walked by this mural every single day on N. 12th and Berry and now it’s an ad. I can’t believe the owners did this.” Which is legit enough—it was a cool-looking mural!—except for the fact, as pointed out by another user on the site, that the Buff Monster piece was also more or less an ad.
Buff Monster writes on his own blog that the piece was “commissioned by Converse and Juxtapoz,” and on closer inspection, those buck-toothed little ice cream creatures are (or were, RIP) sporting branded sneakers. Again, not that there’s anything wrong with getting upset about a nice-looking thing being unexpectedly covered up, just, y’know, whoever thought that sly marketing campaigns ever worked quite this well? I mean, I’m running out of the office as we speak to go pick up a pair of pink sneakers and an ice cream cone, but still. That’s entirely beside the point.
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.