Is Outdoor Advertising Visual Pollution?

Via JMG: I couldn't imagine a big city without outdoor advertising. I feel so alive every time I set foot into Times Square, largely thanks to all the advertising there. Constantly changing and lit up 24/7, it exemplifies all there is to love about the city that never sleeps. But one city, San Paulo, Brazil, banned all outdoor advertising back in 2007. Gilberto Kassab, the city's mayor, said the measure was part of a larger effort to reduce all forms of pollution: "The Clean City Law came from a necessity to combat pollution... pollution of water, sound, air, and the visual. We decided that we should start combating pollution with the most conspicuous sector – visual pollution." Now, nearly three years later, the ban is still going strong, much to the satisfaction of most San Paulo residents: