Homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgages often go to great lengths to make monthly payments. But is transforming their homes into eye-popping billboards going a step too far? That question should be on the minds of Massachusetts neighborhood groups and policymakers as the California-based marketing firm Brainiacs from Mars prepares to turn entire Bay State homes into brightly colored advertisements for corporate sponsors. Balancing the needs of underwater homeowners with the rights of their neighbors will require some pragmatic diligence.
On one hand, the company’s tactic is brilliantly altruistic: For every month that homeowners agree to have their homes painted colors like astroturf green and construction-cone orange and have sponsors’ logos affixed to their facades, Brainiacs from Mars will pay their mortgage, no questions asked. For many, that scheme could be the key to staving off foreclosure.
Comments
Unless some neighborhood association wants to bail out distressed mortgages they ought not have a say in what homeowners do to make ends meet.
Good Grief! Visual pollution. Don't we get any relief from predatory advertising?