Commercial Graffiti
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Commercial graffiti (also known as aerosol advertising or graffiti for hire) is the commercial practice of
graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...
artists being paid for their work. In
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in particular, commercial graffiti is big business and since the 1980s has manifested itself in many of the major cities of Europe such as
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. Increasingly it has been used to promote video games and even feature prominently within them, reflecting a real life struggle between street artists and the law. Commercial graffiti has created significant controversy between those who view it as an effective medium of advertising amongst specific target audiences and those who believe that legal graffiti and advertising using it encourages illegal graffiti and crime.


History

Graffiti as a commercial activity dates back to
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
, when pottery makers employed artists to decorate their items with motifs and intricate designs. The modern era, the phenomenon has been strongly associated with
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
since the late 1960s and the
hip hop culture Hip-hop culture is an art movement that emerged in New York City, in the borough of The Bronx; Primarily within the black community. Hip Hop as an art form and culture has been heavily influenced by both male and female artists. It is charac ...
that emerged in the 1980s, according to a 1993 ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' article that focused on the issue. The term "commercial graffiti" was used in an article by ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' as early as 1968 and used to describe activity in
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as early as 1970. In 1981,
Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...
was referenced as featuring "commercial graffiti" through "Japanization", and more recently further "Japanization" of children's culture is cited to be taking place through forms of graffiti in video games and in the increasing popularity of Japanese innovations such as
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
. Since the early 1980s, commercial graffiti has evidenced itself in
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and other major American cities and across Europe, particularly
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, and
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
and features on the walls of numerous galleries across Europe. With the increasing popularity and legitimization of graffiti, it has increasingly undergone commercialization. In 2001, computer giant
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco which involved people spray painting on sidewalks a peace symbol, a
heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...
, and a
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(
Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
mascot), to represent "Peace, Love, and Linux." However, due to illegalities some of the street artists were arrested and charged with vandalism, and IBM was fined more than US$120,000 for punitive and clean-up costs.


Controversy

The practice of commercial artistry is controversial, because many commercial establishments feel that professional graffiti art is a valuable form of advertising, while other businesses, law enforcement and others disagree. Legal and commercial graffiti is increasing and has created significant debate amongst graffiti writers and those associated with hip-hop culture. The primary concern by those who oppose graffiti is that the tolerance of professional graffiti in one space leads to more illegal graffiti in other spaces. In some areas such as sports, over advertising in sports venues and even player uniforms in soccer has sometimes been viewed negatively. Commercial graffiti, seen as a frontier between the street world and the art world, is argued in some cases to promote a more responsible lifestyle for the graffiti artist through formal employment, which may range from actual graffiti advertising on buildings, to making prints and logos for clothing and gallery showcasing. Nancy MacDonland in her book ''The graffiti subculture: youth, masculinity, and identity in London and New York'' argues that commercial graffiti artistry "moves writers out of the boundaries of the subculture", because artists "no longer paint for their peers and themselves, they have a new audience". Even in major cities such as New York City and Chicago, commercial graffiti has created some very mixed reactions. For instance in Chicago, despite a significant following in graffiti artistry, in the mid-1980s a commercial which featured a kid spraying "The end is near" caused considerable outrage by Chicago citizens who protested to the
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
to take the commercial off air as they believed it encouraged children to freely graffiti property as they desire. Similarly, in 2005, Peter Vallone Jr., a City Council member in New York and several other councilors protested against
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
's decision to use graffiti commercially in their
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...
advertising in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Miami as they believed it would have a negative influence on children and encourage them to deface property.


Commercial success

In
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, legal graffiti and employment has become big business, appearing with owners' permission on everything from walls to railroad boxcars. According to Cooper and Sciorra, many young graffiti artists are keen to use their talents and aspire to achieve entrepreneurial success. Local businesses employing well-known graffiti artists are also said to enhance their credibility and business-customer relationship as well as reducing crime by employment. One prominent group in New York City is the "King of Murals" which run a commercial graffiti business and have been employed to promote global brands such as
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
and
M&M's M&M's are color-varied sugar-coated dragée chocolate confectionery by the Mars Wrigley Confectionery division of Mars Inc.. The candy consists of a candy shell surrounding a filling which determines the specific type of M&M's. Each piece has ...
in advertising campaigns and even hired by schools, hospitals and other healthcare groups to create artwork. Bronx-based TATS CRU has made a name for themselves doing legal advertising campaigns for companies like
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
,
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
,
Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
, and
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
.
Smirnoff Smirnoff (; ) is a brand of vodka owned and produced by the British company Diageo. The Smirnoff brand began with a vodka distillery founded in Moscow by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov (1831–1898), but its modern incarnation traces back to the ...
and even
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
have hired artists to use reverse graffiti (the use of high pressure hoses to clean dirty surfaces to leave a clean image in the surrounding dirt) to increase awareness of their product. In 2011, Klughaus Gallery started Graffiti USA, a company offering interior graffiti murals for companies. Their work includes murals at the corporate offices of
LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...
,
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
, MasterCard, and
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
, which featured a Graffiti USA commissioned mural on October 8, 2014, episode of
Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...
. In
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, a company named Alt Terrain specializes in hiring graffiti writers to paint legal murals as part of public performances which are hyped as "brand events" and may cost up to $12,500 for live performances. In
Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfi ...
for example, after the death of Michael Jackson, Solomon "Disco" Stewart and a team of four artists named "The Berkshire Graffiti Network" for instance were paid to paint a "Michael Jackson Tribute" mural on the wall of a Pittsfield market on North Street. In the United Kingdom,
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
's Boxfresh used stencil images of a Zapatista revolutionary in the hopes of cross referencing would promote their store. Even the
Israeli West Bank barrier The West Bank barrier, West Bank wall or the West Bank separation barrier, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line (Israel), Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. Israel describes the wall as a necessary securi ...
has acted as a canvas for professional graffiti for hire teams. One Palestinian pacifist group will spray paint any message for 30 Euros, providing that it is not racist or violently motivated. The Art Crimes website is the first to be established in the field of commercial graffiti and hires some sixty artists to produce artwork.


In video games

Graffiti has become an important part of video game culture, often reflecting the oppression facing graffiti artists in public and battle for it to be seen by the establishment as a legitimate and indeed a legal art form. The ''
Jet Set Radio (originally released in North America as ''Jet Grind Radio'') is a 2000 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. The player controls a member of a youth gang, the GG's, as they use inline skates to traverse ...
'' series (2000–2003) tells the story of a group of teens fighting the oppression of a
totalitarian Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...
police force that attempts to limit the graffiti artists'
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
and others such as '' Rakugaki Ōkoku'' series (2003–2005) for Sony's
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
revolves around an anonymous hero and his magically imbued-with-life graffiti creations as they struggle against an evil king who only allows art to be produced which can benefit him. Similarly '' Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure'' (2006), features a story line involving training in graffiti artistry and fighting against a corrupt city and its oppression of free speech, as in the ''Jet Set Radio'' series. Numerous other non-graffiti-centric video games allow the player to produce graffiti, such as the ''Half-Life'' series, the ''Tony Hawk's'' series, '' The Urbz: Sims in the City'', ''
Rolling Rolling is a Motion (physics)#Types of motion, type of motion that combines rotation (commonly, of an Axial symmetry, axially symmetric object) and Translation (geometry), translation of that object with respect to a surface (either one or the ot ...
'' and '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''.


In apparel

Graffiti has become a common stepping stone for many members of both the
art and design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...
community in North America and abroad. Within the United States, graffiti artists such as Mike Giant, , Rime, Noah and countless others have made careers in skateboard, apparel and shoe design for companies such as DC Shoes, Adidas, Rebel8 Osiris or CircaGanz, Nicolas. "Graffiti World". New York. Abrams. 2004 Meanwhile, there are many others such as DZINE, Daze, Blade, The Mac etc. which have developed into gallery artists and at times do not even use their initial medium (spray paint) to produce artwork.
Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the Graffiti in New York City, New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual l ...
, a well-known graffiti artist, contributed to bringing graffiti to the commercial mainstream. In the 1980s, Haring opened his first Pop Shop: a store that offered everyone access to his works—which until then could only be found spray-painted on city walls. Pop Shop offered commodities like bags and T-shirts. Haring explained that, "The Pop Shop makes my work accessible. It's about participation on a big level, the point was that we didn't want to produce things that would cheapen the art. In other words, this was still art as statement". Marc Ecko, an urban clothing designer, has been an advocate of graffiti as an art form during this period, stating that "Graffiti is without question the most powerful art movement in recent history and has been a driving inspiration throughout my career." But perhaps the greatest example of graffiti artists infiltrating mainstream pop culture is by the French crew, 123Klan. 123Klan founded as a graffiti crew in 1989 by Scien and Klor, have gradually turned their hands to illustration and design while still maintaining their graffiti practice and style. In doing so they have designed and produced, logos and illustrations, shoes, and fashion for numerous global firms.


Tourism

Most of the major cities across the world have graffiti and street art tours, often run by local graffiti artists who want to bring their talent to the public on a more socially accepted level. Originally started with walking or biking tours around the cities, street art tours have expanded to include graffiti workshops, using graffiti art tools, stencils, and spray cans. Tourism can also be achieved by political or social-themed graffiti. Graffiti exists in a digital age where the image of the site-specific work can travel through the web. Therefore, people who drawn to the work can visit the psychical place. This creates several things such as tourism, the need for urban development, and mainstream attraction which opens the ways for museums and galleries to adopt Graffiti in their collections. There are several ways and methods to work with or use graffiti in a positive way and free the art from its criminal background. Firstly, graffiti can be exhibited and collected as documents of a performance piece by the institutions which allows them to work with the piece easily. And it also allows scholars to get more insight in the art form. Secondly, as graffiti still chooses social, political and cultural issues as subject matter the photography and internet allow the message to travel around the globe. So, it reaches a great number of audiences which some of them takes the act of going and seeing the piece and the spot. This affects the tourism of that place if advertised and handled properly. Lastly, graffiti started and still takes place in the urban, abandoned, and marginalized areas where the residents are from various social levels. The conditions of these territories are mostly poor and therefore not suitable for commercial or tourism. Because graffiti has this aspect and the potential it also has the potential to be an agency in urban development. If the ways mentioned above are accomplished, the graffiti bringing attention to these areas makes it possible for municipalities to take action in developments of these areas as well. The digital age allowed graffiti to be outside of mainstream art or "high art" yet still shape the ways it forms via main media. The infinite stream of images on the internet allows everyone around the globe to see the works as well as the surroundings the work is situated which allows people to go and see the work on the spot. This situation allows those areas to get more attention from the public which later forces the authorities to make urban improvements. So, there is a need to redefine today's graffiti and change the perspective that the public and institutions look at graffiti as a negative act but a tool that affords community building, urban development and tourism. This situation also helps surrounding areas to develop. Graffiti writers usually select places that are undiscovered, abandoned or marginalized neighborhoods. These places are usually not the regular touristic places but because of the physical work being on that spot, there is a certain attraction to the place and municipalities, therefore, pay more attention to this kind of neighborhoods once the work gets enough attention and awareness to the place. Tours exist in New York, London, Berlin, Hamburg, Reykjavik, Barcelona, Montreal and Paris.


Marketing

Commercial graffiti is used as a type of marketing known as
guerrilla marketing Guerrilla marketing is an Advertising, advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a Product (business), product or Service (business), service. It is a type of publicity. The ...
where one company has limited funds for advertising its product may it be goods or services. Generally done by smaller companies at the beginning due to small budgets but adopted by big brands (e.g. Coca-Cola). This type of marketing has a way of going viral as it is done in a public place with limited resources but with new technology such as smart phones which can upload pictures and videos instantly to social media, so if there is legal permission by the government for graffiti people would do it during peak hours in communities for maximum exposure( Navrátilová, L. Milichovský, F(2015)).


References

{{Reflist Graffiti and unauthorised signage Visual arts genres Advertising