Australian advertising guru Russel Howcroft has taken aim at Amsterdam’s decision to ban outdoor advertising of meat products and fossil fuels products.
This month, adverts for burgers, petrol cars and airlines were pulled from billboards, tram shelters and metro stations across the Dutch city.
Politicians say the move is designed to bring the city’s out of home furniture in line with plans to become carbon neutral by 2050 and for Amsterdammers to halve their meat intake over the same period.
Howcroft, an advertising and TV veteran who hosts 3AW Breakfast and has been a regular on Gruen, was having none of it.
“If it’s legal, you should be able to advertise it,” he told BBDO New York strategist Freddie Young on the pair’s Admission podcast. “Part of it is that there will be people around the table making that decision that see advertising as pollution, whereas I see it as a mark of a thriving economy.
“Would you rather go to Piccadilly Circus or Stonehenge? I’d much prefer to go to Piccadilly Circus because you can see commerce in action.
Howcroft said that in Amsterdam—known as the Venice of the North for its extensive and picturesque canal system—you wouldn’t even notice the five way intersections because, “there’s no showbiz (flashy advertising) about what’s going on”.
He added: “They eat a lot of chips and eel, but how do you know without advertising what chips and what eel to eat?”
Smoked eel, once a daily staple in The Netherlands, falls under Amsterdam’s meat, fish and poultry ad ban. Fossil fuel ads and carbon intensive transport, such as flights and cruises, are also caught up in the new regulations.
Billboards that once touted budget holidays, Big Macs and BMWs are being replaced with ads for museums and concerts.
At the time the ban was rolled out, GreenLeft councillor Anneke Veenhoff compared high carbon lifestyles with addiction.
“If you’re trying to get rid of an addiction, it’s not very handy to see it everywhere,” she said.
“Most people don’t understand why the municipality should make money out of renting our public space with something that we are actively having policies against.”
Howcroft called on Amsterdam’s advertising agencies to lobby officials, asking them: “what sort of place do you want us to live in, a grey land where we all just do as you (politicians) want us to do?
“In Amsterdam they’ve got dykes to ensure that the joint doesn’t sink. Well maybe someone has got to break through the dam and let the joint flood,” he said in jest topped with a sprinkling of despair.
