Fed up with the rampant advertising smothering his city, São Paulo’s mayor, Gilberto Kassab, passed legislature last year effectively banning all outdoor advertising in Brazil’s largest metro. (With more than 11 million people, São Paulo is about five times the size of Chicago). Six months later, the removal of all the advertising is nearly complete and the city looks eerily vacant. Photographer Tony de Marco has a slideshow up on flickr documenting the decontamination of what Mayor Kassab has called São Paulo’s “visual pollution” problem. As you might expect, many advertisers are outraged.

The International Herald Tribune published a great article a while back exploring both sides of the debate over the ban: concerned citizens tired of commercial bombardment and marketers and designers whose livelihood and clients depend on advertising. Business Week just published a follow-up this week. [Via]

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