http://www.intheagora.com/archives/2007/01/the_majestic_and_the_mercantile/?source=rss current events, culture, faith, science and more Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:40:35 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 http://www.intheagora.com/archives/2007/01/the_majestic_and_the_mercantile/comment-page-1/#comment-2269 Eric Seymour Tue, 09 Jan 2007 15:08:22 +0000 http://intheagora.com/2007/01/the_majestic_and_the_mercantile.html#comment-2269 Interesting discussion. I agree that ads on tollbooths are unobjectionable, whereas ads in courtrooms would be unthinkable. It's difficult, however, to formulate a precise statement about which "public spaces" are acceptable locations for advertisements. Perhaps it would have something to do with how inherently "commercial" the space is. Transportation is very commercial in nature--whether by bus, subway, air, or roadway. No one objects to seeing ads on buses, subway stations, airports, and roadside billboards. Ballfields (even local ones which are part of city parks) are also fair game. As for the example in your follow-up post, if the state parks must have a tollbooth-style entrance to collect parking fees, I wouldn't object to a small advertisement on the booth, but there shouldn't be billboards elsewhere within the park. Interesting discussion. I agree that ads on tollbooths are unobjectionable, whereas ads in courtrooms would be unthinkable. It’s difficult, however, to formulate a precise statement about which “public spaces” are acceptable locations for advertisements. Perhaps it would have something to do with how inherently “commercial” the space is. Transportation is very commercial in nature–whether by bus, subway, air, or roadway. No one objects to seeing ads on buses, subway stations, airports, and roadside billboards. Ballfields (even local ones which are part of city parks) are also fair game.
As for the example in your follow-up post, if the state parks must have a tollbooth-style entrance to collect parking fees, I wouldn’t object to a small advertisement on the booth, but there shouldn’t be billboards elsewhere within the park.

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