A
spray paint graffiti advertisement for Justin Beiber's new album
"Purpose" on Howard Street between Sixth and Seventh streets in San
Francisco, California, on Monday, Dec. 28, 2015.
The ads — part of a guerrilla-marketing campaign for Bieber’s chart-topping record that was released Nov. 13 — have been seen in recent months around San Francisco’s Upper Haight and Western Addition neighborhoods.
But City Attorney Dennis Herrera — who has a history of aggressively going after taggers — is not pleased with the unsightly vandalism.
In a letter Monday to executives from Bieber’s record label, Def Jam Records and Universal Music Group, Herrera said he would “aggressively pursue all available penalties and costs for those responsible for lawless marketing tactics that intend to financially benefit your respective companies.”
Herrera said the San Francisco Public Works Department has spent weeks responding to complaints about the ads, which began appearing prior to the release of Bieber’s album, and were not washed away after a series of mid-December rainstorms hit San Francisco.
The ads have been drawing ire on social media and inspired a robust discussion on Reddit titled “Worst. Haight graffiti. Ever.”
Herrera, acknowledging the frustration from residents, blasted Def Jam’s CEO Steve Bartels and Universal Executive Vice President Jeffrey Harleston.
“This prohibited marketing practice illegally exploits our city’s walkable neighborhoods and robust tourism; intentionally creates visual distractions that pose risks to pedestrians on busy rights of way; and irresponsibly tells our youth that like-minded lawlessness and contempt for public property are condoned and encouraged by its beneficiaries — including Mr. Bieber and the record labels that produce and promote him,” Herrera wrote.
City public works director Mohammed Nuru had his own choice words for the executives.
“Our sidewalks in San Francisco are not canvases for corporate advertising, and we have made that clear. Yet these guerrilla marketers believe they are above the law when it comes to blighting our city and we will take a strong stand against them,” Nuru wrote.
Officials at Def Jam Records and Universal Music Group did not return calls seeking comment.
The city attorney’s office has squelched similar graffiti-marketing campaigns in San Francisco by IBM, NBC Universal, Turner Broadcasting and Zynga. Those disputes ended in hefty financial settlements, Herrera said.
Earlier this year, in an innovative legal maneuver to curb widespread graffiti in San Francisco, the city attorney’s office asked the courts to treat the city as any other property owner and allow it to sue for damages to pay for graffiti cleanup.
Sending a message to the vandals, the city attorney’s office filed a civil suit against Cozy Terry, an infamous serial tagger who scrawls “Coze” and is responsible for dozens of acts of vandalism that add up to $53,788 in damage.
Herrera has been working with city leaders, and San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin has legislation in the works, to crank up penalties for those engaged in unlawful guerrilla marketing tactics, the city attorney’s office said Monday.
