What if a city had no outdoor advertising?

This is what it would look like.



In a bid to remove all forms of "pollution" -- including visual pollution from billboards and ambient ads -- Sao Paolo, Brazil's mayor undertook a campaign to strip all forms of outdoor advertising from the city in 2007.

The result: people now see their surroundings. Art deco buildings once covered by billboards are now better appreciated. (This applies to shantytowns as well that people didn't realize even existed.)

Whether something like this can be undertaken in a city like Metro Manila remains to be seen. Naturally, it's a move that will be challenged by the ad industry but even by business owners who need to hang their shingles as well. Advertising would be confined to above the line and online -- making it very difficult for brands with less resources to make their voices heard.

One solution that brands undertook was to paint their buildings with their representative colors, like Citibank. It would certainly make for a more colorful city.

Anyway, if you want to read more about it, click here.

Found via HolyKaw!