Apparently, earlier in the month, the last incandescent bulb was removed from Grand Central Terminal. From TransitTransit News Magazine:

OCTOBER 2009

LAST BULB
“The last incandescent light bulb was exchanged for newer florescent bulbs in Grand Central Terminal. These new energy efficient bulbs will brighten up the terminal, saving the MTA millions over the next few years. We sent our reporter Samantha Ronda to witness the historic change of light.”

The idea with this piece is to take all that energy being thrown away -24/7- on aggressive advertising; and cut back on it. Reduce it. Quiet all that info down to just some warm colours dimly flickering inside the dead shell of a rapidly obsolete lightsource.

It’s interesting to me: the lightbulb, once a symbol of bright ideas, is becoming more of a symbol of the wasteful ways we must grow beyond. Visible incandescent lightbulbs in a workplace, or even a private home, can be an embarrassing faux-pas for the proprietor.

Still, lets forget about the incandescent bulbs for a minute, at least they serve a function; removing those 80+ video billboards will save tons of energy, “saving the MTA millions over the next few years”.

And that’s just the video billboards. Think about all the resources and energy spent constantly printing vinyl and paper ads for MTA subways, buses, shelters and stations.

Maybe if I can’t get you on board for political, social, aesthetic, legal or psychological reasons, I can convince you for environmental reasons. So many good reasons to rethink advertising.

You ought to watch the video:

Lightbulb from posterchild on Vimeo.