Shoreditch graffiti ads: Ex-Google man’s app slapped with ‘hefty bill’
The costly graffiti covering Shoreditch's streets. (Picture: Rich Pleeth) - Credit: Archant
An ex-Google marketing manager will be searching for a new advertising model after graffiting the streets of Shoreditch earned his company a “hefty bill”.
Rich Pleeth quit his job at GetTaxi to start Sup - Credit: FREELANCE
Rich Pleeth, founder of Sup, has been given short shrift by Hackney Council after the app’s name was stencilled on the borough’s pavements by an “over enthusiastic brand ambassador who thought they were being innovative”.
Town hall staff found 30 adverts across four roads, and Sup can expect a cleaning bill of £80 to £100 for each.
Cllr Feryal Demirci, Hackney’s neighbourhoods boss, said the council would not tolerate illegal advertising. She said: “Cleaning graffiti does not come cheap – it costs taxpayers £80 to £100 to clean one advert.
“We have found around 30 sprayed on our streets, so the company is likely to get a hefty bill and a fine of about £240.”
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A “disappointed “Mr Pleeth quit his job at GetTaxi in December to launch Sup, which lets people know when their friends are nearby.
“We’re a tiny startup trying to get our name out there,” he said. “This was done by over enthusiastic brand ambassadors who thought they were being innovative and wanting to impress.
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“There is so much street art in Shoreditch. We’ve seen the police do something virtually identical, and GCHQ, but they obviously won’t fine them so they are penalising us.”
GCHQ sprayed adverts across Shoreditch in November. But the area covers four boroughs and Hackney said no graffiti was found on the streets it owned.
The GCHQ ads spotted in Shoreditch. Image from Stirling Ackroyd on Twitter. - Credit: Archant
