Sony paid for fake graffiti

The hook

Late 2005. Black-and-white murals of wide-eyed cartoon figures start appearing on city walls: riding a handheld like a rocking horse, a skateboard, a sled. No logo, no slogan. It was an ad. Sony rented the walls and hired a graffiti crew to paint them.

The Kids

Tats Cru designed the characters: figures licking the PSP like a lollipop, cranking it like a jack-in-the-box. The only branding was the outline of the device itself.

No logo. No slogan. Just the shape of the console.

What was happening

Street art was the new cool

Brands had discovered graffiti. A Sony spokeswoman told Wired the target was "urban nomads." To the writers whose look it borrowed, it read as a corporation wearing their culture as a costume.

The detail people forgot

The street wrote back

Writers crossed the murals out and tagged over them, some with messages for Sony and the crew. Local officials said Sony skipped the rules on outdoor advertising, and at least one city sent a cease-and-desist letter.

Why it matters now

Brand murals are everywhere now, commissioned, signed and posted for the feed. The PSP campaign still comes up as the cautionary tale: hide the logo, borrow the look, and the street hands it back.

Disguise the ad, lose the room.