First Impressions of IMC in Berlin

There is an estimated 3,416,255 people residing within the borders of Berlin, yet there is only 1,421,687 registered motor vehicles (berlin.de), which would accurately identify Berlin as an outdoor mobile city. Walking down any streets you will find advertising messages everywhere, whether it is as traditional as a billboard outside the S, printed on the toilet paper in the bathrooms, or placed in the center of a ‘fake’ building (confused? Take a look at Figure 1.1).

Outdoor advertising reaches the young and old on their way to work or drinks with friends, available for the locals to see twenty -four hours a day, seven days a week. Even though product placement is illegal in Germany, I still can’t help but question a lot of the time whether some of this creative advertising is crossing the line and stepping over both ethical and privacy boundaries.


Figure 1.1