Strengthening Brand Participation and the Urban Landscape

Like falling asleep during another episode of Fox 5 news, or gazing apathetically at the brutal dismemberment of an innocent victim in Saw 6, I find myself desensitized to the escalating tick-tick-tick of the national deficit clock heading horrifically toward hedonistic hell. This omnipresent icon of doom sits proudly above Union Square in New York City taunting its passers-by - a forecast foreshadowing of future economic failure. No one seems to give it a second look.

This sits near one of New York's more vibrant public spaces - Times Square - and it strikes me as ironic that one would not find New York's citizenry violently attempting to dismantle such a provocatively evolving ode to the failures of capitalist consumption - the ultimate reminder of a commercial assault on public space. Instead, a sub-consciously supported mockery of a useless paper currency finds itself churning silently and without attraction at the heart of one of the City's more prominent locations. Perhaps the lack of attention people pay to this archi-folly merely epitomizes the value the world places in the American greenback.

There remains hope for humanity, however, as it is not the National deficit clock that we seek to watch. Thankfully the recent transformation and 'pedestrianized' amenities to Times Square provide the theatrical structure to the real tick-tick-tick of a climbing deficit - we, the people. Hoards of tourists, traveling salesmen and 'tickled pink' power-shoppers sway between stores like the ebb and tide of the Hudson River. Thankfully, public space is not all about moving from channels where brands are law enforcers.  We are a society becoming more familiar with  moving from channels to arenas where brands are participants. Public space will once again provide the arena for economic growth, or at least a place for another yoga class.