We've all grown accustomed to ad takeovers on pretty much everything, but an egregious campaign overshadowing a hotel's brick wall stuck out like a sore thumb.
Certainly, a bunch of Dubliners felt that way, with a Redditor taking to the r/Dublin subreddit to commiserate about the massive Paddy Power banner on the Camden De Luxe Hotel.
"One of 4 huge billboards within a few minutes walk," they wrote. "Why is this allowed?"
"Because money," a Redditor replied. While they're undoubtedly right and the hotel is likely earning a nice paycheck for the billboard, that comes as little solace for those who find these massive advertisements to be eyesores.
In this case, the brick above the hotel's awning is nearly completely covered by the banner directing fans to gamble at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Sports gambling is no stranger to excessive advertisement, including in unlikely real estate like fortune cookies. That encourages many consumers to engage in behavior that can lead to a dangerous addiction to betting, as detailed by CBS News.
The trend of advertisement taking over city landmarks is far from just a Dublin thing. Historic Quincy Market in Boston, MA, has similarly allowed brands to advertise in shameless ways.
Few activities now are free from advertisements, including going to the beach or a trip to the gas station. All of it serves to encourage excess consumption or partaking in dangerous habits like sports betting.
That's bad news for consumers' wallets, as well as for the planet. Production of new goods and shipping lead to more pollution, use of resources, and toll on the environment. Getting rid of old items can also lead to more trash going into planet-heating landfills.
Commenters had some solutions for the excess advertising in Dublin.
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Absolutely 💯 One user shared how a Swiss town banned billboards, as Bloomberg reported.
Another user echoed that point: "Some cities ban outdoor advertising. Others ban ads for types of products (fossil fuels, alcohol gambling etc). Would be great if Dublin would take either of these options."
To that point, Edinburgh garnered headlines for just that in banning advertisements from dirty energy-reliant businesses.
A different Redditor thought the OP was unfortunately falling right into the trap of the advertisers.
"You just showed their advertisement to 1000s of people, they'd love that," they wrote.
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