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Well, the old Fabio/Les Wexner Nationwide Ad has been taken down and there’s a new Nationwide “Life Comes at you Fast” Ad that’s taken its place a few weekends ago. The first panel appears to be a standard ad for a paint company showing a few open paint cans. In the second panel, one of the buckets is overturned and has spilled down the ad space, down the side of the building, and onto several cars in the parking lot below. The third panel sums it up with the aformentioned Nationwide slogan.
I’ve been meaning to get myself over there to take a photo, but local blog ColumbusIsOkay beat me to the punch. And what I realized from Katie’s photo is that you really need to see this ad in person to take in the whole thing at once. It’s so huge that it’s sort of hard to see all in one photo.
So what do you think? Is this art? Is it an advertisement? Or is it both?
That is just cool.
I drove by it yesterday, but there was heavy traffic on the street and I missed the cars covered with paint on the ground….so…I guess I kinda missed the whole thing that makes it different.
More pics at http://www.geekologie.com/2007/06/nationwide_ad.php
I think Boyd’s problem is the real reason this was a great idea on paper (and, possibly, in photos) but might still not have the visual impact OBM wanted. I have to imagine he’s not alone in that. You really do have to look a bit to catch it. The pedestrian, lunch-hour traffic through the area might have a better look at it, however.
I saw it when I came down for the meetup, and have seen some good pics of it at various places, including Flickr:
image 1
image 2
It even made the front page of Digg:
Don’t Park Under This Billboard! (with a huge number of diggs too)
From looking at the different pics, it looks like they move around the painted cars from time to time?
I think it’s awesome. It’s definitely an advertisement – that can’t be argued. But I do think it’s a FORM of art at least. It’s unique & interesting, really catches your attention. Does it make me “think” or inspire me at all? Not really, but it’s cool to look at, and makes downtown more fun.
The ad was done by a graffiti artist! I believe that instantly makes it vandalism.
i drove past it like 3-4 times on weds. when you see it, you think… WTF happened!!!! so it definitely gets a point across. you just don’t realize it’s a nationwide ad though.
I just came across this ad on an advertising resource page. I was like that looks really cool, clicked on it, and low and behold… it’s in my backyard! Now I just have to make a trip Downtown and check it out.
I’m going to tow that car and dump it in the Scioto. I wonder if they insured it against theft?
I think they’re just car frames. No engine or interior or anything. So it should hook up nicely behind your bike for towing. :lol:
From Retro Metro:
http://columbusretrometro.typepad.com/columbus_retrometro/2007/06/photo_of_the_da_5.html
Okay wait, I’m confused again. I only saw this once, at night, driving past. Did they rent the entire parking lot for this one ad? I’ve never seen that lot empty and parking is fairly precious in that area…
Edit: Wait, the older one’s punchline was Les Wexner? I’m way behind, here. Sorry everyone.
Also, the ad must be working, because I REALLY want to go out and buy some paint.
They rented a few spaces to keep the painted cars in. I’ve seen that lot empty plenty of times.
Not really the punchline… many people thought the “old Fabio” looked a lot like Les Wexner. There was even a front page article in the Other Paper about it.
Monday, June 11, 2007
By Ann Fisher
If you travel Downtown, through it or to it, perhaps you’ve noticed Orange Barrel Media’s work. Its repertoire includes the three-part Nationwide murals, the newest of which was a top pick on Friday on the digg.com Web site.
Although opinions may vary on what makes good ad art, other notable Orange Barrel projects have been the 3D Crew soccer ball along High Street, the Michelob Ultra girl along 4th Street and, on 3rd Street, a rollicking consumer-designed homage to Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
San Francisco, Paris and London have embraced the urban mural ads-as-art concept as well. On many levels, we can’t compare ourselves with such large cities. But we can enjoy, at least, the same penchant for ads that double as eye candy.
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