IBM has agreed to pay San Francisco city authorities a $100 000
fine after an avant-garde advertising campaign in which its
advertising agency spray-painted logos on roads and pavements
around the city to promote it’s “Peace, Love and Linux”
campaign.
IBM’s ad agency, Ogilvy and Mather, devised the campaign and
branded the streets with three images of a peace symbol, a heart
and a penguin, Linux’s mascot. However, the markings, which had
been made using a supposedly biodegradable chalk, proved stubborn
and had to be removed with a combination of baking soda and
high-pressure hoses.
San Francisco authorities have claimed that the company created
the graffiti with the knowledge that it would be irremovable. “Some
[of the images] were etched into the concrete, so in those cases
they will never be removed… they knew exactly what they were
doing,” said Gavin Newsom one of the city’s supervisors.
IBM has agreed to pay the city £100 000 plus costs of around $20
000.
