Jun 26, 2008 9:00 pm US/Eastern
Graffiti-Style Malt Liquor Ads Drawing Fire
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ―
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A large ad on the side a Philadelphia store is raising tempers for its graffiti-style depiction of malt liquor.
CBS
A beer company has put up ads for malt liquor in graffiti-style paintings that mimic the murals that Philadelphia has used to fight blight and cheer up drab neighborhoods.
The ads for Colt 45 malt liquor show comic-book-style characters clutching bottles and cans of booze. A nonprofit anti-billboard group, the Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight, has complained to city regulators, saying the ads should be removed, because they are in areas not zoned for advertising.
Mary Tracy, executive director of SCRUB, said they are particularly offensive in a city known for murals of famous places and people, from Frank Sinatra to Malcolm X.
"Not only are people looking at it, but they are thinking about it," Tracy said. "Some people in the city, who knows, maybe they thought it was another mural."
Jane Golden, the director of the city's Mural Arts Program, said: "I just think it's distasteful. I just think it's the last thing we need."
One of the Colt 45 ads is painted on a building next to a bicycle shop in the working-class neighborhood of Fishtown, a gentrifying area that still has many struggling families.
The ad's gray and white adult cartoon characters are shown holding golden cans and bottles of the malt liquor. It reads, "The tales of Colt 45.com ... Works every time." In the corner, smaller print reads, "Yo, enjoy our frosty malt beverages responsibly!"
Messages left with Pabst Brewing Co. by The Associated Press were not immediately returned Wednesday.
Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program is one of the largest public arts initiatives in the country. In a January 2007 visit to the city, Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, wanted to learn more about the program's 2,700 murals and visited one titled "Reading:
A Journey" in the rough-and-tumble Mantua neighborhood.
Golden said marketers might want to think twice if they had hoped to capitalize on Philadelphia's reputation for murals.
"They shouldn't underestimate the intelligence of Philadelphians," Golden said, adding that most people will know the difference between an ad and a mural.
About three years ago, SCRUB waged a similar fight when Sony Corp. put up graffiti-style ads for its PlayStation Portable video-game system. Those ads were eventually painted over after city officials said they violated code.
Now, SCRUB is hoping to erase the Pabst ads in similar fashion.
Opponents say it's not necessarily about the content, but about where the ads are placed. The buildings simply are not zoned for such ads, Tracy said.
Nicole Seitz, program director at SCRUB, said the group knows of the two painted Colt 45 ads in Fishtown, as well as about seven other similar ads for Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
Seitz said she believes the beer ads, wrapped around buildings, are part of an outdoor advertising campaign that solicited artwork. The group has asked the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections to remove all of them.
Gayle Johns, a spokeswoman for the department, said inspectors were sent to investigate but she did not know whether a citation was issued. She said the ads would be considered general outdoor advertising signs and would not be permitted under the zoning code.
Last year, ads for Colt 45 were removed from the sides of city transit buses in response to community concerns. Inner-city activists across the country have long decried ads for malt liquor, which is similar to regular beer but with an alcohol content as high as 8 percent.
A bicycle mechanic who works at a shop next to one of the Fishtown ads said he's torn over it: He thinks it's great artwork, but he's opposed to the corporate presence.
"Big business is behind it all," said George Thoms, 34, who says he doesn't drink.
A mother of two who lives nearby said she liked the artwork, but hated the fact it was promoting the sale of alcohol where her 15-year-old daughter could see it.
"I really wouldn't want my daughter looking at it," said Jill Maguire, as she pushed a neighbor's baby in a stroller. "She might think it's cool (and say) 'Mom, Dad, have you ever tried Colt 45?"'
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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