HAVANA TIMES — The Cuban capital is being invaded by a new form of pollution that spreads quickly and causes much damage to the city’s appearance. I am referring to the many flyers, in black and white or living color, that are posted wherever there is room to do so. Through these, Havana is practically being sold piecemeal.
The city has become the victim of a mad, somewhat wild form of “marketing”, whose concrete manifestation, I say without hyperbole, are perhaps millions of printed flyers offering houses, furniture sets, tickets to a concert (whose star is often a young musician looking for exposure) -in short, anything from an ice-cream dispenser to the repair of a household appliance in one’s own home.
The spread of this new disease is encouraged by digital means, capable of printing advertisements en masse and of giving quick expression to the imagination of Cuba’s new entrepreneurs.
When I say “vehicles for transmission”, I am not being metaphorical. The fact of the matter is that the people who post these ads are paid to carry out this mission: they receive money from others or do it independently.
I want to remind you of my previous comments as to the key areas where these ads are posted, and the fact these have spread to all spaces where the flyers can be left behind. Don’t forget that, at these key locations, printed ads tend to multiply, some kill others, in short, they grow like a tumor, hungrily taking up more and more of the surrounding space.
It is clear that people don’t have enough money to meet their basic daily needs, that the rules applied to licensed businesses are tough and that one is forced to use an easy, direct and cheap way of advertising (be it an apartment, a furniture set, computers, etc.). At this pace, however, I fear that we will soon run out of things to sell and that, worse still, we will enter into a vicious re-selling cycle, a veritable economic cancer.
Morally, it is difficult to condemn those who make an effort to overcome the obstacles that our tough reality has imposed on them, but the harmful effects these practices have on the city are undeniable, and garbage collectors have more and more work to do every day in Havana’s litter-covered streets.
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Therefore, the flyer epidemic continues and will continue to spread, attesting to a city that is being sold out, bit by bit…through bits of paper.
vicentemorin@yahoo.com
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