6 ms·

It's kind of an open secret that the city of Santa Barbara (CA, US) has banned several forms of public outdoor advertising: we have no billboards, no promotiona

It's kind of an open secret that the city of Santa Barbara (CA, US) has banned several forms of public outdoor advertising: we have no billboards, no promotional posters, no taxi toppers... It's delightful, and very high on my list of reasons why I enjoy living here. Every time I leave I'm reminded how noisy space is when it's filled with advertisements. I wholeheartedly recommend others advocate for similar policies in their municipality - it can be done!

munk-a 7y ago
Taxi toppers are an interesting one to ban - I suppose the city can simply refuse to license taxis that refuse to sign a contract agreeing to not use toppers but any advertisement on a private not otherwise restricted vehicle would be the providence of the state DMV - possibly... I'm not certain how a lawsuit would come down trying to determine if vehicle appearance could be restricted by a state or if that right was withheld by the federal government.
- justin66 7y ago
  > any advertisement on a private not otherwise restricted vehicle would be the providence of the state DMV ??? The state DMV neither writes nor enforces laws.
  - whelsemin 7y ago
    Are there any government bodies between city and state level that have the power to do this? In CA, US for example. Not a quiz.
    - justin66 7y ago
      Counties can pass ordinances, if that is what you are asking.
dominotw 7y ago
thats nice. They prbly have a good tax base that doesn't need this extra revenue stream. property tax is decent enough revenue where median home is > 1 mil. > I enjoy living here Yea its a given that its nice to live where people earn more and live in expensive homes :D
- deogeo 7y ago
  You assume advertising somehow helps the economy, but it is probably the reverse. If business A buys ads, it's competitor B is forced to do the some, or be slowly edged out of the market. Like peacock plumes, ads are mostly a tax that weighs down every business in the area.
  - nine_k 7y ago
    But how can businesses may become known? I see that maybe image ads are of the peacock feather type. Informative ads, like a new movie being out in theaters, can actually be net-positive financially, at the expense of the strain on public attention.
    - TeMPOraL 7y ago
      > Informative ads, like a new movie being out in theaters, can actually be net-positive financially, at the expense of the strain on public attention. It would be easy to avoid that strain, by segregating such informative ads into places where people can seek them out on their own. Have advertising be PULL, not PUSH. Unfortunately, this is the exact opposite of what the advertising industry wants (and really, what most companies want - everyone is happy with getting a little short-term advantage at the expense of everyone else and their own future).
      - cm2012 7y ago
        So more or less enforcing the status quo. If you can't do push marketing, whatever people are used to will stay for much, much longer.
jacquesm 7y ago
Sao Paulo did the same: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cidade_Limpa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cidade_Limpa
Twirrim 7y ago
Hawaii has a similar ban in place too. It's so nice not being bombarded by billboards in your day-to-day life. Definitely one of the things I've missed since moving from there.
- i2amsam 7y ago
  Vermont as well. Really noticeable when you drive on the highway, much more relaxing and scenic.
  - LeftHandPath 7y ago
    Just realized that my current state (Kansas) doesn't really have much in the way of roadside billboards. Never thought about it before. But it does help take in the views, a lot more so than, say, the highways of Florida.
reaperducer 7y ago
Lots of places in America have severe restrictions on advertising. Hilton Head, South Carolina; and along the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey leap to mind. I think along some of the toll roads in Houston this is also true (It's been a while, I might be remembering that wrong). Billboards are banned in downtown Chicago, so big companies rent storefronts in tourist areas and put in stores that are not supposed to make money, just to be billboards for their brand.
- jakemal 7y ago
  I live in downtown Chicago and I find the lack of billboards everywhere refreshing. Michigan Avenue has very few advertisements with the exception of unintrusive storefront signs.
  - chitown-master 7y ago
    Well, you are a moron
  - chitown-master 7y ago
    Jack, maybe live somewhere else bc you must be a moron
- selectodude 7y ago
  When the Edens Expressway was built, all of the wealthy north shore suburbs entered a pact to ban billboards. It’s so pleasant.
- jccooper 7y ago
  New billboards are banned in Houston anywhere (and have been for decades). So they're not along tollways, or any new road. Old ones still exist, sadly.
frank2 7y ago
With rare exceptions (mostly help-wanted signs and signs for candidates for local offices before elections) the only outdoor advertising in Marin County, CA, is on the buses, the bus shelters -- but only the shelters near highway 101 -- and retail locations advertising stuff sold there. I.e., vastly less outdoor advertising than most of the US.
ljm 7y ago
I wish we had that on the tube in London. Instead, you ride an escalator and see upwards of 20-maybe 30 video ads on the way. And that's before a marketing firm commissions the redesign of a tunnel so an entire stretch of walkway is 100% ad, like a shitty Disney ride. Or you arrive to one of the big terminals and gigantic screens are blasting even more ads at you. This is, of course, after you spend 40+ minutes on a train that has a continual row of adverts placed just above the eye-level of the person sat in front of you. Then you look at what the older tube stations looked like and they're quite pretty; lots of mosaics and other works of art, each station having a distinctive style. Now it's white tiles, white LED lights, and adverts.
- jsinai 7y ago
  Tube adverts also tend to play on people’s insecurities only making it worse
  - Hallucinaut 7y ago
    As someone who is highly susceptible to yawn-contagion (I literally yawned writing that's and again writing this parenthetical) the <redacted-to-not-give-them-exposure> snake oil ads showing the woman yawning are a nightmare for me, but I suspect I'm in a tiny minority
  - ljm 7y ago
    They're also the only place where you get really verbose ads...so you spend all the time reading their bullshit prose before the next tube arrives. Half the adverts are basically essays to keep people interested when they can't use their phone.
- esotericn 7y ago
  Right. And IIRC advertising only contributes about 7% of TfL's revenue. i.e. For about 10p on a bus ticket or 20-30 on a tube ticket it could just be gone. I made a post just recently about this - unfortunately public transport is lowest common denominator so this can't happen.
alexfromapex 7y ago
I wholeheartedly feel that advertisements forced on you in public are a type of violence
theNJR 7y ago
Bit of a hijack but are you still working? I’ve been in LA for 15 years and the plan is to move to SB once we no longer need to work. I love everything about the area (I just did a 5 personal retreat at Lake Cachuma) but job optionality is low. I’ll be back on Saturday and can’t wait for the peace, calm and beauty.
- q845712 7y ago
  yes! there's a couple dozen tech companies in the area, but there's a large demographic of byo$$. happy to connect via other channels if you want a longer discussion.

munk-a 7y ago

Taxi toppers are an interesting one to ban - I suppose the city can simply refuse to license taxis that refuse to sign a contract agreeing to not use toppers but any advertisement on a private not otherwise restricted vehicle would be the providence of the state DMV - possibly... I'm not certain how a lawsuit would come down trying to determine if vehicle appearance could be restricted by a state or if that right was withheld by the federal government.

justin66 7y ago
> any advertisement on a private not otherwise restricted vehicle would be the providence of the state DMV ??? The state DMV neither writes nor enforces laws.
- whelsemin 7y ago
  Are there any government bodies between city and state level that have the power to do this? In CA, US for example. Not a quiz.
  - justin66 7y ago
    Counties can pass ordinances, if that is what you are asking.

dominotw 7y ago

thats nice. They prbly have a good tax base that doesn't need this extra revenue stream. property tax is decent enough revenue where median home is > 1 mil. > I enjoy living here Yea its a given that its nice to live where people earn more and live in expensive homes :D

deogeo 7y ago
You assume advertising somehow helps the economy, but it is probably the reverse. If business A buys ads, it's competitor B is forced to do the some, or be slowly edged out of the market. Like peacock plumes, ads are mostly a tax that weighs down every business in the area.
- nine_k 7y ago
  But how can businesses may become known? I see that maybe image ads are of the peacock feather type. Informative ads, like a new movie being out in theaters, can actually be net-positive financially, at the expense of the strain on public attention.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    > Informative ads, like a new movie being out in theaters, can actually be net-positive financially, at the expense of the strain on public attention. It would be easy to avoid that strain, by segregating such informative ads into places where people can seek them out on their own. Have advertising be PULL, not PUSH. Unfortunately, this is the exact opposite of what the advertising industry wants (and really, what most companies want - everyone is happy with getting a little short-term advantage at the expense of everyone else and their own future).
    - cm2012 7y ago
      So more or less enforcing the status quo. If you can't do push marketing, whatever people are used to will stay for much, much longer.

jacquesm 7y ago

Sao Paulo did the same: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cidade_Limpa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cidade_Limpa

Twirrim 7y ago

Hawaii has a similar ban in place too. It's so nice not being bombarded by billboards in your day-to-day life. Definitely one of the things I've missed since moving from there.

i2amsam 7y ago
Vermont as well. Really noticeable when you drive on the highway, much more relaxing and scenic.
- LeftHandPath 7y ago
  Just realized that my current state (Kansas) doesn't really have much in the way of roadside billboards. Never thought about it before. But it does help take in the views, a lot more so than, say, the highways of Florida.

reaperducer 7y ago

Lots of places in America have severe restrictions on advertising. Hilton Head, South Carolina; and along the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey leap to mind. I think along some of the toll roads in Houston this is also true (It's been a while, I might be remembering that wrong). Billboards are banned in downtown Chicago, so big companies rent storefronts in tourist areas and put in stores that are not supposed to make money, just to be billboards for their brand.

jakemal 7y ago
I live in downtown Chicago and I find the lack of billboards everywhere refreshing. Michigan Avenue has very few advertisements with the exception of unintrusive storefront signs.
- chitown-master 7y ago
  Well, you are a moron
- chitown-master 7y ago
  Jack, maybe live somewhere else bc you must be a moron
selectodude 7y ago
When the Edens Expressway was built, all of the wealthy north shore suburbs entered a pact to ban billboards. It’s so pleasant.
jccooper 7y ago
New billboards are banned in Houston anywhere (and have been for decades). So they're not along tollways, or any new road. Old ones still exist, sadly.

frank2 7y ago

With rare exceptions (mostly help-wanted signs and signs for candidates for local offices before elections) the only outdoor advertising in Marin County, CA, is on the buses, the bus shelters -- but only the shelters near highway 101 -- and retail locations advertising stuff sold there. I.e., vastly less outdoor advertising than most of the US.

ljm 7y ago

I wish we had that on the tube in London. Instead, you ride an escalator and see upwards of 20-maybe 30 video ads on the way. And that's before a marketing firm commissions the redesign of a tunnel so an entire stretch of walkway is 100% ad, like a shitty Disney ride. Or you arrive to one of the big terminals and gigantic screens are blasting even more ads at you. This is, of course, after you spend 40+ minutes on a train that has a continual row of adverts placed just above the eye-level of the person sat in front of you. Then you look at what the older tube stations looked like and they're quite pretty; lots of mosaics and other works of art, each station having a distinctive style. Now it's white tiles, white LED lights, and adverts.

jsinai 7y ago
Tube adverts also tend to play on people’s insecurities only making it worse
- Hallucinaut 7y ago
  As someone who is highly susceptible to yawn-contagion (I literally yawned writing that's and again writing this parenthetical) the <redacted-to-not-give-them-exposure> snake oil ads showing the woman yawning are a nightmare for me, but I suspect I'm in a tiny minority
- ljm 7y ago
  They're also the only place where you get really verbose ads...so you spend all the time reading their bullshit prose before the next tube arrives. Half the adverts are basically essays to keep people interested when they can't use their phone.
esotericn 7y ago
Right. And IIRC advertising only contributes about 7% of TfL's revenue. i.e. For about 10p on a bus ticket or 20-30 on a tube ticket it could just be gone. I made a post just recently about this - unfortunately public transport is lowest common denominator so this can't happen.

alexfromapex 7y ago

I wholeheartedly feel that advertisements forced on you in public are a type of violence

theNJR 7y ago

Bit of a hijack but are you still working? I’ve been in LA for 15 years and the plan is to move to SB once we no longer need to work. I love everything about the area (I just did a 5 personal retreat at Lake Cachuma) but job optionality is low. I’ll be back on Saturday and can’t wait for the peace, calm and beauty.

q845712 7y ago
yes! there's a couple dozen tech companies in the area, but there's a large demographic of byo$$. happy to connect via other channels if you want a longer discussion.