All I need is the air that I breathe

People hate advertising. But the screeching over the evils of a poster on a toilet stall door has always struck me as ridiculous. A retail or bar space is a place filled with advertising, some of it brand-name clothing and some of it billboards for tummy acid relief. Get over it.

And giant ads on trucks are actually funny. This opinion runs counter to that of public space moralists; they think that the ugliness of downtown streets in winter must remain unrelieved by a little skin or a suggestively spinning bottle o' booze on a moving flatbed -- both of which have been known to warm me up a titch. Nonetheless, public space moralists want it all banned.

Of course, stationary billboard advertising is restricted -- and I admit I'd be angry if there was a huge television logo bearing down on my backyard 24/7. So moving ads should be subjected to certain restrictions, too, I guess. Fairness and all.

But what kind of restrictions? "Welcome to the phenomenon of mobile billboards -- large truck-mounted ads driven solely for the purpose of advertising. Despite being a none-too-subtle medium, it seems to have slipped through the cracks and loopholes of advertising regulations to become a fixture on streets across Canada, including Toronto's gridlocked avenues," writes Nick Anapliotis of Spacing.ca (thanks to Toronto's Eye mag blog for the pointer), a group which regularly alternates lovely suggestions for reclaiming public space with a tedious need to dictate its own ideas of what's acceptable and what isn't.

"By-laws exist limiting the size of billboards and what type of advertising is suitable for a neighbourhood, but mobile billboards drive a hole right through such regulations. They go where they want to. Have a product that you want to push to the up-market set? Cruise on over to [posh T.O. 'hood] Yorkville. Got some new beverage that you want the club kids to be drinking while they’re out on the town? Head over to the club district.

"This sort of intrusiveness, as well as the associated negative environmental effects, has turned many people against mobile billboards. In Montreal, where more than 30 ad trucks roam the streets, various campaigns have tried to halt or limit their use. In 2002 a group calling themselves 'les decorateurs' began a direct-action campaign, attacking ad trucks with paint bombs and throwing spiked boards under the trucks’ tires.

"In June of 2003 the environmental group l'Association quebecoise de lutte contre la pollution atmospherique started collecting thousands of signatures urging the City of Montreal to enforce its ban on ad trucks. According to the group's figures, ad trucks operating in Montreal travel more than 2.3 million kilometres each year, and contribute harmful amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Despite existing by-laws prohibiting the use of mobile billboard trucks, the city has not taken any action, fearing any prohibition would not withstand a court challenge by the advertising companies."

Tedious, that public space thing being for all, isn't it? Goodness knows, no one should have to see an advertisement for 12 seconds as it zips by.... Snork.

Ah, but the air I breathe, now there's something I will fight for, along with Spacing.ca. The Toronto ad trucks use biodiesel, which reduces fuel emissions. Let's start legislating there. If your raison d'etre involves zooming about the roads, you switch to electric trucks. And if they don't exist yet, you'd better demand that GM and Ford get going with a production line, cuz you're not back on the streets until then.


Feedback here. I will post it.