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Apple iPhone Ad on the NYC 5th Avenue Store
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I'm going to post a point of view which has probably not been addressed by anyone else as of yet:
I hope that particular sign stays down, as it is UGLY. Why did they make a white background for it, anyway? Or the hand holding the iPhone? Would have been much better to make it appear like it was simply floating there...
What might be even better is to play, sometimes, video of something as insignificant as the Flurry screen saver, or perhaps other sort-of abstract things (especially at night). (I am assuming that they made the ad by projecting a picture onto the building's glass.)
I hope that particular sign stays down, as it is UGLY. Why did they make a white background for it, anyway? Or the hand holding the iPhone? Would have been much better to make it appear like it was simply floating there...
What might be even better is to play, sometimes, video of something as insignificant as the Flurry screen saver, or perhaps other sort-of abstract things (especially at night). (I am assuming that they made the ad by projecting a picture onto the building's glass.)
If you were to guage the worth of an entire city or society based on the words of a few people on the internet, you may want to log off, get some fresh air and, while you're at it, get a clue.
As a born and raised Brooklynite, I enthusiastically scoff at you. This city gets enough tourists, a few touchy people driven away by message boards will not be missed.
i think its like a paper/film that sticks to the glass...although that would be cool if they could project a movie maybe the hello ad with some speakers although hearing that 24/7 might get annoying maybe every hr
Maybe they should've just gotten one of those A-frame chalkboard outdoor menu things that they use for restaurants, get the genius in the store with the best drawing skills and just have him or her draw the iPhone on that. It would look old school New York, and the city would have nothing to complain about. 
Perhaps not, but zoning regulations banning advertising on privately owned structures are not easily enforced and often successfully challenged. Not only that, but it seems that there is no particular requirement against advertising in the agreement to begin with. The agreement made was to produce a structure with minimal disturbance of the physical space. If Apple wanted to put a giant Christmas tree inside that cube every year, that's certainly an option they could pursue. The Apple logo hanging in the cube is also advertising and opaque.
And just because you view Apple's actions as arrogant doesn't mean that they actually are, especially given that you would be hard pressed to cite an example of any large corporation acting with complete and sincere humility.
The city does not have the authority to make public places on private property.
That's only true if the fixture is permanent. For example, take a large city with light pollution restrictions limiting the use of colored lamps on high rise structures. Now, a few times a year, one such building paints its bright structure in celebratory colors, much like the Empire State Building does the red/white/blue thing for Independence Day and other colors for other holidays. This is technically against regulations, but it's permitted as a temporary measure.
Or take a museum located in a historic area with strict design-based requirements (use of red brick, no glass fronts, indigenous flora only, only Ionian columns on porticos, etc.). Now say that an ancient Egypt exhibit is coming to the museum for a few weeks. Can they put up some hieroglyphics on sandstone-colored columns and some fake palm trees to advertise for a week or two? Probably.
Zoning and covenants are designed to protect the character of neighborhoods and control sprawl. They are not intended to micromanage the day-to-day activities of property owners. In my neighborhood, we are not permitted to have anything but completely assembled and functional land vehicles in our driveways. If I'm doing woodwork and have lumber and tile in my driveway for a few days, I'm not going to get a letter or suffer the outrage from some anal do-gooder.
It's only speculation that the city complained at all, as far as I can tell. It's also inaccurate to proclaim any violation of any covenant or zoning restriction based on what's been provided. If you have a zoning restriction preventing furniture on the sidewalk, you're not violating the public's trust when the delivery truck unloads in front of your new brownstone.It would look old school New York, and the city would have nothing to complain about.
You can only be in violation if you lack permission or if that violation isn't covered by a controlling statute elsewhere (for example that you can't ban window advertising on private property under any circumstance).
Or they could project a clock every hour and make that typical grandfather clock sound...
But projecting a real video constantly would get annoying eventually. I think something more abstract would be better. What if they just used projectors to change the cube's color? Perhaps change it hourly, or make it constantly, slowly, change?
Well, I was kinda being sarcastic, but to appease the more picayune crowd perhaps a genius can simply walk around the cube with an iPhone printed on his shirt.
Or they could just put the original ad back up. There's nothing factually supporting the idea that the ad actually is prohibited and/or that the city chose to take action.
Again, it was sarcasm
I don't see why people would complain about temporary ads on the store cube. How many people say "Dammit, look at that. Now 5% of my view of Central Park from a few feet away from the corner of 59th St. is ruined for a while."
@aristotle. I dunno if simply eye-rolling will solve the issues at hand
True - I've seen no new reports about the ad.
It's also possible that Apple's lease or other tenant agreement covers this issue - and that a complaint by another business in the complex was the trigger.
Perhaps it was just a test run until June, so they can fix any directional issues. If you noticed, it looked better at certain angles than others.
another wonderful mac ad
as a designer and architect, i'm always amazed how apple blurrs the line of design in architecture, graphics, advertisment, and product design...brilliant once again.
the reason that they mysteriously had to take the signage"as building" down has something probably to do with signage restrictions and code for size in that part of NYC.
Once again, apple thinking out of the box, on the box and through the box...brillant!!!
yves
as a designer and architect, i'm always amazed how apple blurrs the line of design in architecture, graphics, advertisment, and product design...brilliant once again.
the reason that they mysteriously had to take the signage"as building" down has something probably to do with signage restrictions and code for size in that part of NYC.
Once again, apple thinking out of the box, on the box and through the box...brillant!!!
yves
Donald Trump ran into a similar problem when he put a banner advertising "the Apprentice" on one of his buildings
http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/donald-trump-faces-10k-in-fines-for-youre-fired-banner-on-trump-tower-2420.php
http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/donald-trump-faces-10k-in-fines-for-youre-fired-banner-on-trump-tower-2420.php
Some of his buildings are eyesores to begin with. Putting his face on a giant banner only adds insult to injury.