Wait, what? You mean we can't just affix ads to sidewalks anywhere we want in the city of San Francisco? That appears to have been the mindset of global consultancy Bluewolf and its agency,
Ohio-based CivitasNow.
This week San Francisco is home to the tens of thousands of people who attend the Salesforce Dreamforce conference. And when tens of thousands of people are
all together in one place, related marketers tend to have a plan to reach those tens of thousands of people.
Bluewolf, with help from CivitasNow, thought plastering the sidewalks
around Moscone Center in San Francisco would be a great way to tout its new The State of Salesforce Report which, according to its Web site promises to help
people "discover key trends and insights on how the best companies are using Salesforce."
Despite the fact that the City of San Francisco has rules banning this sort of activity, Bluewolf
spokesperson Tammy Chan told SFgate. "They are temporary. It's all
chalk-based. So they do wash off. We have the appropriate permits."
Even Bluewolf CEO defended the move saying, “We think it’s great for the city of San Francisco. I’m
sure that it will all work itself out. Everyone seems to be enjoying it. We went through the proper channels.”
Right.
Of the marketing stunt, San Francisco Public Works
spokeswoman Rachel Gordon said: “We don’t allow advertising on our sidewalks. Our sidewalks are not billboards. It’s essentially advertising on our public property, which is against
the law.”
So basically Bluewolf lied. But surely, the ad agency would have checked this out before recommending it to the client, right? Well, sort of. According to reports, the
agency did reach out to the city but was rebuffed. Undaunted, they moved ahead anyway.
And CitivasNew Owner Jacob Taylor doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. He says police
watched his team place the chalk logos on the sidewalk and did nothing to stop them. He also pointed out other companies doing similar things such as Salesforce Dreamforce, itself, affixing messages
to the sidewalk.
While Taylor may not think this is a big deal, the city thinks otherwise. Matt Dorsey, a spokesman for the city attorney's office said: “Our lawyers are in
touch with Public Works. What’s galling about this is that part of the nature of guerrilla marketing is that even defying the law is getting them publicity.”
Ah yes, the old
"f*ck it, let's do it anyway" strategy. Works like a charm every time. Well, that is until someone gets slapped with a fine or hauled off to jail.
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