Everyone has seen all the ridiculous Visa commercials with their latest ad campaign of “Life Takes Visa” but what most people don’t know is that Visa also hit the streets with actual artists to reach a broader audience outside of tube viewers. So in searching for art in advertisement, or was it advertisement in art (it’s so hard to tell these days which way it goes since lately they’ve been going hand in hand) I stumbled upon this mural in Greenwich Village by Trish Grantham endorsing… or sponsored by Visa claiming, “Life Takes Expression.”
Clearly, it’s a piece of art, as Trish Grantham is a ‘whimsical contemporary artist’ from Portland Oregon who was commissioned by Visa to paint a mural in New York. Aside from that however, what more can be said of it? There is the “Life Takes Visa” message clearly and boldly displayed but does the mural have anything at all to do with Visa? and why exactly are they (Visa) targeting an audience in the Village? What kind of consumer base even exists there? To the marketing folks over at Visa, stick to the choreographed videos set to synthesized music because it looks like they must have not known where Greenwich Village was, or who resides there, because they definitely goofed on a proforma somewhere.
Below: one of the ‘Live Takes Visa’ Choreographed ads.
