Comments on: And here i thought i was just amusing passangers on the train

And here i thought i was just amusing passangers on the train

sourbrew — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:29:48 -0800

speech bubbles - fun times with guerilla art, Ji Lee printed 50,000 speech bubbles and plastered movie posters, advertisements and whatever with them in NYC, then came back and photographed what people added (via)

By: sourbrew

sourbrew — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:31:44 -0800

yeah i definitely screwed up that via, now with propper boingboing props

By: Specklet

Specklet — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:33:44 -0800

I like these.

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:35:06 -0800

Invest in polka dots! Nice.

By: Elpoca

Elpoca — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:38:39 -0800

This is brilliant.

By: dreamsign

dreamsign — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:45:06 -0800

Ha! Great idea.

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:49:32 -0800

I saw this earlier today and enjoyed it so much I immediately thought about buying some of those stickers for myself. The simple ideas are without fail always the best.

By: bashos_frog

bashos_frog — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:55:37 -0800

print them yourself - look here.

By: fungible

fungible — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:57:44 -0800

Good post. btw I find the graffiti at the 23rd and 8th subway stop to be the most entertaining.

By: caddis

caddis — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:00:47 -0800

Very cool.

By: bullitt 5

bullitt 5 — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:04:36 -0800

Excellent, thanks for the post.

By: furtive

furtive — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:06:01 -0800

Subvert everything!

By: MiltonRandKalman

MiltonRandKalman — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:07:47 -0800

My associates in Oakland already did one better many years ago

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:17:38 -0800

As much as I appreciate this, how is it not theft?

By: wanderingmind

wanderingmind — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:28:29 -0800

I'm still giggling over "I'm hideously deformed!". Great post.

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:28:30 -0800

Theft? How would it be theft, ever? Vandalism, maybe. But theft?

By: MiltonRandKalman

MiltonRandKalman — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:30:45 -0800

Yes it's theft becaus you're stealing back public space from advertisting.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:35:31 -0800

One of them says something about there not being tax for purchases over $110. Is this true? Where is this the case?

By: ottereroticist

ottereroticist — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:37:02 -0800

As much as I appreciate this, how is it not theft? No, actually, this is vandalism. When advertisers appropriate and exploit on our visual landscape and brainspace -- that's theft.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:56:19 -0800

These are superb! I love the "Ooo weee, I love Cancer" lady with the special packs of Camels. Definitely the Best of the Web!

By: Mr.Encyclopedia

Mr.Encyclopedia — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:38:14 -0800

Yeah, the "I love cancer" one was my favourite as well.

By: item

item — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:45:15 -0800

One of them says something about there not being tax for purchases over $110. Is this true? Where is this the case? dobbs, in New York State there's a 'tax-free week' every year. It corresponds with the beginning of the school year, and is only good on purchases under $110.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:58:25 -0800

ottereroticist >>> "As much as I appreciate this, how is it not theft?

"No, actually, this is vandalism.

"When advertisers appropriate and exploit on our visual landscape and brainspace -- that's theft." I disagree. Our laws allow for anyone to purchase billboard space. Don't like it? Get the laws changed. But stealing that space from them, which they have paid for, strikes me as wrong. Don't get me wrong here... I hate the massive plastering of advertising over every available surface too. But it just seems wrong to me.

By: zpousman

zpousman — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 18:04:38 -0800

Um, it's wrong and illegal. He's a graffiti artist, so this is pretty much par for the course. And it's fucking hilarious. That won't get you off with a judge but it'll sure get you off with me.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 18:07:34 -0800

love it.

By: ottereroticist

ottereroticist — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 18:21:47 -0800

They may have paid for it, but they didn't pay me. Why should I have to become a legislative activist in order to reclaim the privacy of my own visual cortex? Why am I required to collude with the ongoing appropriation of the visual and auditory commons? Anyway, I'm not disagreeing that defacing ads is probably illegal; I'm quibbling with the word you've chosen to describe the crime.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 18:41:50 -0800

Am I really the first one to bitch about the crap interface and the unbearably slow load? Wow. I never get to do that.

By: nola

nola — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 18:42:51 -0800

dirtynumbangelboy the point is not to be fair, or approved of. in fact it wouldn't be anything if it were consented to. authorizing graffiti of this sort would make it a poster, and so not graffiti. the fact it is not wanted by the owner is what makes it good. i hope this helps.

By: thecaddy

thecaddy — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 18:54:54 -0800

This is completely awesome. "If I was on the other side of the road, you'd be reading this in Soho." It's almost enough to make me wish that my town was covered in advertising, just for the chance for something like this to happen. (Though, to be fair, there's been some pretty sweet graffiti on University construction barriers lately).

By: fungible

fungible — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:11:18 -0800

If you put up an ad in a New York City subway or on a bus stop, you have to be resigned to the fact that eventually somebody will crudely draw a penis in the mouth of each person in the ad. Just a fact of life.

By: odinsdream

odinsdream — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:13:00 -0800

Wow, I can't believe how out of touch people are with our legal system and what specific words, like "theft" actually mean. Jesus, that is very depressing.

By: mowglisambo

mowglisambo — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 21:34:02 -0800

I have to second the vote on "Invest in polka dots, fucker"; "Trade one exploitation for another?" (where PETA is selling the idea of fur being evil with a nude woman) is a particular favorite. no like the slow load but 'twas worth it

By: delmoi

delmoi — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 21:36:11 -0800

Yeah, no kidding. Not every crime or illicit act is "theft". Next you'll be telling us drug use is theft, because it steals your productivity away from the economy!

By: gorgor_balabala

gorgor_balabala — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 23:43:53 -0800

when i first moved to nyc in '99 i was marking these ads with blank speech bubbles but meant for them to stay blank (as if to say, you know, "i am mute, i am an idiot."). then these stickers started showing up and i realized some people are witty.

By: skallas

skallas — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 00:23:04 -0800

This the best thing Ive seen on metafilter in a long, long time. My top ten favs are here. Insert blah blah self link noise here.

By: kosher_jenny

kosher_jenny — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 01:35:47 -0800

The "trade one exploitation for another" one elicited a loud "Ha!" from me, scaring my roommate. I also like the meta musing News Anchors "what do you think they'd say about us?"

By: dabitch

dabitch — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 02:20:18 -0800

"trade one exploitation for another" was spot frickin' on.

By: Hat Maui

Hat Maui — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 02:43:22 -0800

these are fantastic. dirtynumb, it would in a sense technically be "theft" if the perpetrator were sued by the owner of the property on which the ad appears; it's actually a civil infraction and they would have to sue the perp for the tort of conversion. in other words, that's freaking absurd, dude. ain't gonna happen. the police would probably cite the stickerer with something like "willful and wanton disregard of public/private property." there are resources to abet your safe getaway, such as this guide to wheatpasting and stickering. probably wouldn't even happen if you bragged to the cop after placing the sticker (or completing your witty riposte). they do take spray paint vandalism a bit more seriously, though. in nyc, the po po (mostly) have better things to do, unless, say, the republican national convention's in town.

By: archimago

archimago — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 05:42:00 -0800

The handwriting throughout is suspiciously similar on many of the bubbles.

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 06:41:16 -0800

I genuinely hope that ad-defacing becomes a popular leisure activity.

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 06:54:55 -0800

The "Date me please" one made me laugh out loud. Someone needs to do this in Chicago. ; )

By: deborah

deborah — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 09:43:00 -0800

error 404: File not found The document you requested is not found. S/he's apparently taken it down.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 09:53:19 -0800

Damnit, I just found out that the site's gone. Maybe I can still see it in the Google cache. DAMN!

By: fenriq

fenriq — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 09:55:15 -0800

By the way, this reminds me of something my brother used to do when he was still cool. He'd had a stamp made and would read magazines and stamp "Fashion Violation" on people who were dressed like idiots. It always made me smile to see what bothered him. I'd be curious as to what he'd say about something like this lady.

By: samh23

samh23 — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 13:04:37 -0800

Late to the party and getting a 404 -- anyone know of a mirror??

By: rhapsodie

rhapsodie — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:34:55 -0800

403: Forbidden!