Getting The Hell Out

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Have you seen Absolut Vodka’s new campaign illustrating what “a better world” might look like in various American cities?

In New York, art work would replace commercial signage in Times Square and 2nd Avenue would get a subway.  In Northern California a bike lane  (via cgi.ebay.com) would  traverse the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge, and in Los Angeles (via militantangeleno), the city would reclaim the forsaken L.A. River and incorporate it into the urban infrastructure.

And then, there’s New Orleans.

In the obvious read, the inbound freeway would be jammed with trucks bringing in heavy machinery for building and reconstruction.  With the flood of resources pouring in (pardon the pun), the outbound lanes would be empty as that nobody would want to leave.

I’m thinking the image might have something of a double-edge, however.  As such, I offer two alternative (if slightly less idealistic) reads.

1.  High Mileage

IN AN ABSOLUT WORLD, most residents would have the means to afford the cars and gas to actually come and go.

2.  Developer Dreams

IN AN ABSOLUT WORLD … all that building equipment flowing in would be repair/build fair-market housing.

3.  Too Little Too Late

IN AN ABSOLUT WORLD … the freeway heading away from the city would be wide open, so that next time everyone could get the hell out.

More kvetching here.



(image: TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York)