Angry Neighbors Paint Over Sony's Graffiti Ads (PSPUpdates)
Graffiti-style
advertisements by Sony Corp. to promote its PlayStation Portable gaming
system at three sites in North and South Philadelphia have been painted
over by irate neighbors, city officials said yesterday.
The ads,
featuring bug-eyed youngsters with PlayStation Portables, were
stenciled onto walls with spray paint this week. The locations were
Girard Avenue near 15th and Eighth Streets and Passyunk Avenue in the
Queen Village section of South Philadelphia. Two of the ads were
painted over Thursday night or early yesterday, and one was painted
over earlier this week, officials said.
Pedro Ramos, city
managing director, said: "The ads were illegal because they lacked
proper zoning and licenses. They were phony, in that they were
commercial advertising masquerading as something else. And they are
disrespectful of the neighborhoods where Sony thought it could get away
with this conduct."