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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Chalk It Up to Graffiti

posted by on July 15 at 18:03 PM

After Jobdango advertised on the streets of Portland using—the horror—sidewalk chalk, the city had to clean it up because sidewalk chalk, see, is apparently graffiti. Portland is now suing Jobdango.

The city is suing the online job classifieds company for $5,446, claiming that’s what it cost to remove hundreds of chalk advertisements drawn on city streets one night last September….

Though one might expect the rain to wash the chalk away in this soggy city, the graffiti was applied in September, one of the few months in which Portland enjoys steady sunshine.

The cleanup crew spent several hours removing hundreds of chalk advertisements, which were 2 to 4 feet long. They had to be power washed, then scrubbed by hand.

“Chalk is not as easy to dispose of as people think,” said Marsha Dennis, who directs the city’s graffiti abatement department. “While you’re waiting for it to rain, it looks messier and messier and messier.”

Oh, it’s so much messier. Just think of the ROSES!

Meanwhile in Seattle, the county public health department appears to be spray-painting excellent go-get-tested-for-HIV ads on the sidewalk. I just tested one with water and rubbed it with my shoe, and the chalk didn’t fade or run. But James Apa, spokesman for the county’s health department, says, “The material they use is regular chalk and on top of it they use an organic hairspray to make it last longer.” He says that the “Sidewalk Division” has given permission to spray the ads given that the “store owner is okay with it and it’s not permanent.”

graffiti_you_can_deal_with.jpg

But under city law, chalk and paint are both equally illegal on Seattle streets. So the moral of the story: if you want draw on the street, make it a good campaign and don’t use plain chalk; use spray paint.

RSS icon Comments

1

I saw the Jobdango chalk here in Seattle about a year ago. It looked like it was handwritten by 8th grade girls. If there were an "i" in Jobdango I would have expected a tiny heart.

Posted by w7ngman | July 15, 2008 6:34 PM
2

yay finally seattle is being cooler than PDX

Posted by vooodooo84 | July 15, 2008 6:57 PM
3

Jobdango is the most shite name for a business I think I've ever heard. I suspect it's affiliated with that horrible Fandango, that ran the insufferably unwatchable adverts in the cinemas a year or more ago?

In fact, that whole "dango" suffix makes me break out in a maculopapular rash and causes my eyeballs to bleed. Profusely.

Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball | July 15, 2008 7:31 PM
4

Given that in Seattle you're not supposed to look people in the eye because that means you're one of the crazies about to spare change or Tim Eyman initiative them, it really really sucks that marketers are starting to ad up my sidewalks.

Posted by Ameliadango | July 15, 2008 10:48 PM
5

It's dangerous to have sidewalk messages in the NW. You are walking along with your latte in one hand and your iphone in the other, talking away on the phone, and you see the sidewalk message and look down to read it. Then boom, you run into someone. Your latte and iphone go flying. His latte and iphone go flying. Worse yet you have that awkward moment of explaining that of course you really weren't that interested in AIDS testing, not that you aren't gay, not that he is, not that there's anything wrong with that....

Posted by kinaidos | July 15, 2008 10:49 PM
6

Could someone print the address of the CEO and head VPs of the firm that decided to spray paint it, so we can go tag their homes?

It's only fair.

Posted by Will in Seattle | July 16, 2008 12:30 AM
7

It's not like chalk is going to hurt anything when it gets into the storm sewer. This is really dumb.

But wait, can I sue the city for putting those little chalk marks on my tires when I park on the street?

Posted by Greg | July 16, 2008 9:10 AM
8

Just think how much money the city could make selling space on sidewalks for chalk ads.

Posted by Vince | July 16, 2008 9:11 AM

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