We've been had!
Do you recall my notes about the "Hip Hop Rots Your Brain" billboards that went up around Champaign-Urbana? Turns out that it was a hoax. The jokes on us.
The "Coalition of Responsible Attentive Parents," whose name graces the billboards, are actually a load of C.R.A.P. The billboards were put up by a local upstart hip-hop label, Up a Notch Records.
The campaign is actually quite clever, a three-step process. Step One was plastering up the actual billboard, with the slogan and the logo, black text on a white background—nothing else. Of course, this generated a lot of buzz in town about who was behind the billboard and what they hoped to accomplish by making a statement that asinine. Enter Step Two: updating the billboards to make them look like they had been tagged by graffiti. A closer inspection reveals that it's actually fake graffiti that has been plastered onto the ad. But, driving by in a car, it's quite difficult to see that detail. Other billboards feature different graffiti, which lends to the believability of it all. One billboard, which is on a platform that could realistically be reached from the ground, features actual graffiti. On that particular billboard, the words "hip hop" were scratched out and replaced below by "Stereotypes, Racism, Ignorance." The label encouraged the University of Illinois' hip hop club to vandalize the billboard. Then, they left up the graffiti.
Step Three placed a big old stamp across most of the billboard announcing the label and their coming-out party at a local bar.
Not bad for an initial advertising campaign, eh? It's a creative way to get your billboard to stand out from the others. I wonder if the label will live up the hype?
N/P—Uncle Tupelo, Anodyne
The "Coalition of Responsible Attentive Parents," whose name graces the billboards, are actually a load of C.R.A.P. The billboards were put up by a local upstart hip-hop label, Up a Notch Records.
The campaign is actually quite clever, a three-step process. Step One was plastering up the actual billboard, with the slogan and the logo, black text on a white background—nothing else. Of course, this generated a lot of buzz in town about who was behind the billboard and what they hoped to accomplish by making a statement that asinine. Enter Step Two: updating the billboards to make them look like they had been tagged by graffiti. A closer inspection reveals that it's actually fake graffiti that has been plastered onto the ad. But, driving by in a car, it's quite difficult to see that detail. Other billboards feature different graffiti, which lends to the believability of it all. One billboard, which is on a platform that could realistically be reached from the ground, features actual graffiti. On that particular billboard, the words "hip hop" were scratched out and replaced below by "Stereotypes, Racism, Ignorance." The label encouraged the University of Illinois' hip hop club to vandalize the billboard. Then, they left up the graffiti.
Step Three placed a big old stamp across most of the billboard announcing the label and their coming-out party at a local bar.
Not bad for an initial advertising campaign, eh? It's a creative way to get your billboard to stand out from the others. I wonder if the label will live up the hype?
N/P—Uncle Tupelo, Anodyne
How silently and cleverly one correlates the post-title with the N/P item.
You sir, hold the keys to my heart. Now give em back.
By 
Jonathan Wright, at 5:58 PM
5:58 PMHow silently and cleverly one correlates the post-title with the N/P item.
You sir, hold the keys to my heart. Now give em back.