Splashy Design, Disappointing Reveal

Author:

Stewart Devlin

Source:

Ever since I've lived in New York City (almost eight years now), the five story-building at the busy corner of Houston and Lafayette Street has been used as a billboard to advertise Calvin Klein. I walk past this location every day on my way to and from the office. So I did the classic double take one day this summer when I was faced with a giant QR code rather than the familiar scantily clad Calvin Klein models.
 
My first reaction was to mourn the loss of another iconic piece of New York advertising (I'm still angry at the loss of the DKNY painting of New York City a few blocks away). But Calvin Klein is famous for pushing the boundaries with risqué ads that titillate, shock and anger a lot of people and here it was trying something new again.
 
The marketer had placed the oversized QR code at this location with a screaming headline that promised "uncensored" content. It seemed like a brilliant idea...