The New York Post reports that McDonald's has enlisted the legendary graffiti team Tats Cru to develop wall murals designed to appeal to urban Latino customers. While it's great to see street artists develop businesses around their work -- Tats Cru has also done commission work for Coke -- this raises some interesting questions.
Does the mainstreaming of graffiti makes it a less legitimate artform -- especially as many cities continue to crack down on writers? And does the use of graffiti best meet McDonald's marketing needs -- when one Fast Company reader recommends that the company should refocus its attention on children, its historic customer base?
Related Stories: | Topics:Management, sales + marketing, McDonald's Corporation, NYP Holdings Inc., Visual Arts, Painting, Coca-Cola Classic |
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Recent Comments | 2 Total
September 15, 2004 at 4:36pm by Shannon
While I find it to be rather interesting that McDonalds and other large corporations are trying to lure in the latino market, I can not help but feel that using the graffiti artists is not the best way to go about it. As a young hispanic male I really feel that this is just adding to the problem of young hispanics wanting to become 'taggers' and possibly lead to more gang involvement. I truly feel there are more appropriate ways to expand into the latino market.
September 16, 2004 at 10:23pm by Adam
Over the past few years, whether people recognize it or not, graffiti has indeed evolved and has grown into legitimate art. Commonly under the moniker of 'urban art', Nike has used graffiti and graffiti artists for years in their advertising campaigns and footwear quickstrikes, from Futura to Espo to the Barnstormers. Dave Kinsey just finished up the 'Absolut Summer' campaign and now they've already started the Kami and Maya Hayuk Absolut ads. Toyota (Scion) brought artists like David Choe, Mear, Seek, Mr. Cartoon and others to the forefront of it's efforts. And the list of corporate sponsorships goes on and on...
Is graffiti legitimate? The Barnstormers recently had an installation at NY MOMA, and San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center of Contemporary Art is currently host to 'Beautiful Losers', which primarily features graffiti and urban artists. Is that legitimate art? You bet.