Hell Bus coming to Leeds
You might have spotted Hell Bus on the news, in Glasgow at COP26 or featured in the Joe Lycett vs. The Oil Giant documentary. Now it is coming to Leeds! But just in case you haven’t heard of it, Hell Bus is a satirical creation by artist Daren Cullen to expose the greenwashing activities of oil and gas companies. Darren tells us that “The exhibition … Continue reading Hell Bus coming to Leeds
Can a damaged billboard stay?
We are writing this just after the biggest storm in the UK in three decades. The storm brought a lot of damage. It also did not spare the huge billboards and other advertising infrastructure either. Billboards that have been damaged by the storm (or other circumstances) – beyond repair – may have actually lost the right to be there. These are billboards without express consent … Continue reading Can a damaged billboard stay?
AdBlock Leeds events this autumn
We finally had our launching event! On the 13th November, about two years after starting AdBlock Leeds, we finally had an official event to share what this is all about and invite new members to join the cause. We had several speakers, who presented different aspects of the fight against corporate advertising. First, Loup (co-founder) gave an introduction to AdBlock Leeds presenting the vision, learnings … Continue reading AdBlock Leeds events this autumn
New application on Tong Road
There is a new application to replace a paper billboard with a digital one on Tong road (Application 21/08243/ADV). In the last 5 years, there have been 4 car accidents at the proposed site, involving 8 casualties of which 2 were serious (see crashmap). Adding a 3 x 6 bright billboard will do nothing but make the intersection even more unsafe. In addition, there are … Continue reading New application on Tong Road
AdBlock Leeds launching event
Even though we started AdBlock Leeds nearly two years ago, the pandemic, some life events and being generally super busy tackling ad issues has kept us from properly introducing ourselves to the city of Leeds. So here it goes! The AdBlock Leeds launching event will take place on the 13th November at 3pm! You can register for free on this link. During the event, we … Continue reading AdBlock Leeds launching event
Are digital billboards more dangerous for road users than paper ones?
The answer is simple: yes. However, applications to replace a paper billboard with a digital one regularly claim that “the replacement will be like-for-like” or that “there is no evidence that a digital billboard is more distracting than a paper advert”. The goal of this blog post is to debunk this myth. What does research say? With ads being so omnipresent all over our roads, … Continue reading Are digital billboards more dangerous for road users than paper ones?
The Otley situation: a billboard 10m away from people’s windows
You might remember the story: one day, residents of Bradford road in Otley found out that a 3x6m digital billboard was going to be built just opposite their houses, merely meters away from their windows. They naturally were opposed to it, talked to their neighbours, raised objections from everyone in their street (more than 50 people!), and wrote to the planning officer and to the … Continue reading The Otley situation: a billboard 10m away from people’s windows
Towards a ban for harmul ads in Leeds
There have been more than 230 people signing the petition to ban harmful ads, thank you so much! As you might remember, before the local elections of the 6th May 2021, we contacted most of the candidates regarding the issues of advertisement that promotes harmful products such as junk food, alcohol, gambling or high-carbon products. We received a few very positive responses and now that … Continue reading Towards a ban for harmul ads in Leeds
The financial “benefits” of having ads in Leeds
Hi AdBlockers, One argument that we hear a lot about why it is ok to have ads in the city is that “it brings money to the council”, so we decided to write a blog post debunking that myth. But before we get started, let’s tell you two of the things that came out from our research: It is very hard to put numbers on … Continue reading The financial “benefits” of having ads in Leeds
AdBlock Detectives on deemed consent ads
A lot of the outdoors advertising in Leeds never received approval through the planning portal. Instead, it appeared one day, it stayed long enough and after ten years received its legal status, under what is called “deemed consent”. In an initiative that we call “AdBlock Detectives”, we screen the streets of Leeds for unauthorised ads and demand that they are removed. In this post, we … Continue reading AdBlock Detectives on deemed consent ads
AdBlock Leeds 