Flushing has had an ongoing problem with signs. Every election cycle someone in the audience of a candidate's night will complain about signs in Korean or Chinese without English translations. These signs can be mildly annoying like not being able to read the name of a fruit or vegetable you'd like to try or more serious like a fireman or policeman not being able to read the name of a store they are rushing to.
But signage is a problem that goes much further than Flushing. The corporate community seems to be waging a war on the public through signage. Everywhere you turn there is constant advertising, almost every moment of the day. Everywhere you turn there is a sign urging you... and your kids.. to buy something. A sign showing how happy, popular, good-looking and sexy you will be if you buy these jeans or that iphone.
As you ride the #7 train, the latest ad technique seems to be bombarding the whole subway card with a single ad. I rode from Main Street to 42nd Street with a certain brand of booze staring at me from every angle.
The subway riding experience isnt limited to those 21 years of age and older. Every child, every teen ager, and every alcoholic trying to stay on their program was surrounded by this ad also.
The ever increasing subway and bus fares should be making enough profit for the MTA that we shouldn't need ads at all. What if when you looked up, you saw the multiplication table, or facts about our government and economy like the fact that six Waltons (the Walmart Family) have more wealth than the bottom 30% of Americans. Advice on eating healthy, ads with mini lessons in foreign languages, ads about free events in New York City.
What if there were ads showing how to plant window box gardens; or reminding us to water the trees on our streets; or updating us on recent bills that have been passed by our government?
What if there was an ad that said, "smile at the person sitting next to you and tell them to have a good day?"
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