Until last week, Christian Jurinka had never heard complaints about the stenciled advertisements his agency sprays on the sidewalks of major cities. But when neon pink-and-yellow ads for a Brazilian brand of flip-flops landed on the North Side of Chicago, they immediately drew the ire of a Lincoln Park stroller.
The pedestrian, Bruce Beavis, 51, complained to the police, his alderman, Vi Daley of the 43rd Ward, the news media and Mr. Jurinka’s business partner, who promised to send a cleaning crew to remove the advertisements the next day.
“We tell all our clients that this is an activity that some communities have no problem with, and other communities frown upon,” said Mr. Jurinka, the co-founder of Attack, a provider of guerrilla marketing services, who said they would not to stencil ads on Chicago streets again. “The law is somewhat cloudy.”
But Matt Smith, a spokesman for the Department of Streets and Sanitation, said Chicago’s policy on sidewalk stenciling was not ambiguous.
“We have zero tolerance for people who would use the public way for their promotions,” Mr. Smith said, “and will go after them any way we can.”
Companies may think they are going to gain an advantage, he said, “but instead they could be drawing a lot of negative publicity and fines.”
That is what happened to IBM in 2001, when it hired an agency that spray-painted ads across walkways in Boston, Chicago, New York and San Francisco without obtaining permits. The company was fined tens of thousands of dollars.
Russ Kellogg, director of sales for ICE Factor, another marketing agency that uses unconventional strategies, said the extensive permit process in Chicago was a disincentive to marketers.
“You either ask for permission or ask for forgiveness,” Mr. Kellogg said.