Gothamist: Illegally Shilling H&M on the Flatiron

Dan Dickinson

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 09:14:13 -0500

So let me get this straight - H&M sent out some covert marketing team who hung this ad without any permission from the building owners? Because that's how a lot of you are making this sound with the "STOP H&M" rally. Someone, somewhere, obviously had the power to authorize the advertising on the front of the Flatiron building, and that person has probably made a hell of a lot of money off of the ad. Go off on them.

Tom

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 18:26:29 -0500

How much are the fines? Hundreds? Thousands? This is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in free advertising. I'd bet companies are going to study the fines structure in this city and take advantage when the value of the ad benefit exceeds the punishment for the infraction.

D

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 18:05:07 -0500

They could have gotten the correct permits but then H&M wouldn't have gotten all this free publicity on Gothamist, in the tabloids, on TV, etc. The value of all the free mentions probably is worth more than the cost of a permit.

S.D.

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 17:51:28 -0500

Huh. You'd think they'd be smart enough to get the correct permits. Go Figure. I pass it everyday. Me, I just hope it's only up for the duration of any repairs. Interesting Architecture is meant to be viewed, not covered up.

MT

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 17:42:40 -0500

Didn't they at one point actually have an inflatable King Kong hanging off the Empire State Building not very long ago as some sort of promotional thing? I seem to remember It was hung up near the spire and seeing it from a distance and although the King Kong was huge, it still looked so small in the context of the building. Anyone else remember that?

Dan

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 17:34:22 -0500

Brilliant! Would you really rather look at black scaffolding netting? The image is a little less then exciting,(a little drab trying to hard not to stand out) and it will all disappear when the construction is complete.

Michael

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 17:23:47 -0500

BLASPHEMY! How dare they ruin one of the greatest buildings ever! Next they'll do one up the Empire State Building! STOP H&M!

Rose

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 17:14:30 -0500

you can complain to H&M here: http://www.hm.com/us/hm/startfaq/contact_srt.jsp

Max

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 16:59:01 -0500

Damn, you mean that thing is actually up? I just ignored those posts thinking it was some sort of april fool/media smash-up thing. That is horrible. Gotta go get my climbing gear.....