Archive for the 'Illegal Advertising' Category

Miami Advertising Eyesores

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on February 15, 2008
in I-95, Illegal Advertising, Marc Sarnoff, Miami Commission, Murals, Ordinance and Special Interest
. 4 Comments
Let us get something straight; the advertisements all over the city of Miami aren’t murals, they’re big ass ugly tarps. With their abundance and apparent ability to lobby to soften our elected officials, the big ass ugly tarp industry is apparently a lucrative one. Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff has the right idea, attempting to restrict these banners to a smaller area, levy heavier fines on non-compliant ads, and reducing the number of legal advertisements. The other option, crafted by city administrators, would levy smaller fines and allow more banners in a larger area. The plans have been in the works since July and after 8 months of deliberation will finally soon come to a vote by the city commission.

“I’m disappointed after spending so much time with the administration,” Mr. Sarnoff said, calling today’s face-off the “first time the administration has really challenged me like this.”

Mr. Sarnoff blamed the influence of mural lobbyists for city staffers’ apparent change of heart, saying outdoor advertising proponents have their “hooks deeply in the administration.”

It is unfortunate that the city of Miami is bowing to special interests. This particular form of advertising contributes little substantial value to the city, degrades the view of much of the city, and undermines any efforts to create a legitimate outdoor advertising industry. Banners, such as the one pictured above (1 of 3 on this particular building), are placed without any regard for building use. This particular “hotel” is fully blanketed with a Budweiser tarp obstructing every window on the eastern façade, facing I-95 motorists…

News Briefs

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on June 19, 2007
in Advertising Trucks, Billboards, Busway, Illegal Advertising, Killian Kat, MDT, News, Sprawl, Sunpass, Tri-Rail and bus
. 3 Comments
  • MDT’s Buses on the shoulder program is going well. With 50% fewer late buses the pilot program is looking good thus far along the Killian routes.
  • Last year’s fastest growing Transit System, Tri-Rail, is working the kinks out of its latest “service enhancements.” The agency is still struggling to gain dispatch control from CSX and last week experienced a dismal on time performance between 50-60%…
  • Remember those stupid trucks with billboards which drive around and cause congestion, pollute, and obstruct your view? Here are the people responsible…
  • Sunpass will be selling at half price to placate 13,000 people who live in sprawl-land, or something of the sort…What I’d like to know is when we’re going to wake up and start using toll money to finance real transit projects… (Via SOTP)

Illegal Advertising Eyesores

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 21, 2007
in Billboards, Illegal Advertising, Miami, Murals and Skyscrapers
. 5 Comments
The increasing number of advertisements appearing on nearly every rising structure in the Miami Skyline is alarming, let alone visually assaulting. Almost every building has some sort of tarp-like advertising perched on its side, plastered with the face of D-wade or some product you have absolutely no interest in to begin with. It seems that everyone has their own version of how to create a time square in Miami; I can assure you this isn’t it. The City of Miami and Miami-Dade County are finally working to draft ordinances which would place greater fines on property holders and limit the number of these illegal ads dotting our new landscape. If only now they could do something to persuade our Florida Legislature to repeal the ordinance allowing for the removal of trees which are obstructing the sight of permanent billboards.
I took these pictures as I walked around downtown last week on my way to a meeting. The first two pictures depict what these hideous banners look like, typically placed on uncompleted high-rises or on the blank walls of existing structures. The Third picture below is of a recent new addition to the advertising assault: the Mobile ad aka Media Truck. Believe it or not, some people pay large sums of money to have their ads plastered to the side of a truck whose only objective is to drive around and be seen…