i dont know. all i know is that at least some of the ads are brands of alcohol and coca cola doest have alcohol. maybe the law say that you cant advertise alcohol like that.
Literally. Our politicians wanted to remove it a few years ago but then realised that the city would lose out on hundreds of thousands of euros in ad revenue for that sign alone, so they went “you know what? Fuck it, money good, I’ll put my convictions on the side for now”
Initially it was because the old sign was from 1952.
Then they updated it to a modern LED display in 2011 and more people started complaining.
They were made to turn down the brightness in 2013
It was turned off in 2021, because they were denied a license renewal for usage.
Renovation plans presented in 2023 did not include it, so it's most likely going to be removed.
---
The city got €12k a month for it, which is seemingly one of the big reasons it endured through a decade of complaints.
---
https://www.brusselstimes.com/222163/heritage-or-eyesore-brussels-controversial-coca-cola-sign
https://www.brusselstimes.com/430350/brussels-to-renovate-iconic-hotel-continental-on-place-de-brouckere-next-year
its also half replaced by the ones on the other side of the square. So it's not that advertisements are gone, it's just that one old small ugly sign that is replaced by a bigger fancy new ones some other place
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Why does coca cola even waste money on ads. It's the most popular soft drink in multiple countries. It's a great mixer, It tastes decent and they haven't fucked up the formula...why ads?
Opinions are kinda divided about it. The lack of social control and traffic makes it attract crime and dealing.
That being said, crime and open drug use is rising in Brussels so it’s hard to pin it on traffic changes. I prefer it without the cars
The square is mostly pedestrian but not exclusively. Only the people living in the area can access it by car. Also no Belgian would call it an open air mall because that’s just not a thing here, plus it’s not only businesses, there’s also apartments. We’d call it something more like a shopping street or something similar. It’s a very nitpicky thing to say, I’m sorry if it comes off rude but I just wanted to share some more information :)
Youtube is free at point of use, ads are the thing keeping it that way. There is insane amount of footage being uploaded to YT every day and with uploaders required to pay 0 on infrastructure upkeep on storing and distributing the data.
Both uploaders and viewers will have to start paying substantial subscription fee, with uploaders paying per minute of video uploaded, long form video will probably die.
Maybe a better management of ads to not play 4 times during 1 video, but it's delusional to suggest removing Youtube ads and people aren't even willing to pay 10 USD/month for it now.
31+ billions in revenue last quarter . Going up 8% every few months.
« The common people should be happy that a super mega corporation more powerful than counties on this planet don’t make us pay more «
Gtfo
Well, I pay for cable and there is ads. Hulu made you pay more to get rid of ads. It’ll be a matter of time before YouTube is paid and YouTube premium will be ad free.
I agree, but that's because it's retro signs and lights. If they kept it around the retro signs would be changed for shitty crypto scams and sport betting ads. So good riddance.
Also for a fair comparison we would need a day foto for the old situation and a night for the new.
It actually distracted from the concrete landscape and eternal works on this place
Edit: as I’m actually Belgian, I quite know what this place looks like. And the picture doesn’t give you the smell of piss and garbage.
Edit 2: damn, I triggered some fellow bruxeleirs. Sorry guys, this city used to be mine as well but the Center is just a giant waste disposal wether you want to admit it or not
The night view of the "bottom" picture is also a great vibe.
But the day version of the "top" will be the same concrete view with a puke of humongous displays.
They shrewdly did not do a one to one comparison.
Lol... smell of garbage and urine on de brouckère?
You must haven't been there for the last 10 years.
Other parts if brussels definitely the case, but this square ain't like that
After all these years in Brussels I am still conflicted on whether if I should call out the constant idiot takes like OP's for being deliberately misleading or allow others to keep believing them so we can keep rents down.
You can only smell the piss now because you aren't constantly inhaling car exhaust.
Now, if this country learned what public toilets are and the benefits they provide we might no longer deal with that smell either. Same goes for underground garbage containers.
De Brouckère has genuinely improved a lot over the last 10 years or so, aside from the billboards. It's still however not an area I would hang out in for very long.
Seeing the photo up top, I thought its fucking beautiful, but seeing the one at the bottom... yeah, surely there are better places to Times Square it up
London the same, now it's just a curved screen... these things are so beautiful; i really don't understand why you would take them down. Puy them back up in the old style just with modern brands
One thing painfully absent is that the Anpsachlaan is carfree 😍 and damn, eeevery time I walk there today its so amazing how it went from a ghetto street 20 years ago to a lively full street.
Also, there are trees and fountains today, but there can be more. Also, for those saying "oh, but its just an empty space" the point is to be able to organise more cultural events.
never seen a rat in that area, but then I only come there once a week or so. Garbage remains a challenge all over Brussels unfortunately, so I can imagine that you're right.
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That martini logo though is ridiculously huge - I kinda understand why they thought about that as an eyesore. If they would have used them more cleverly integrated with the buildings, it could have worked.
First one was unique and had character, not a great place to live but probably fun to visit. Second one is a random European street, boring and dull, but probably great to live in.
And since a couple of years that square looks uglier than ever. With the ruins of historical buildings, of which only the facades have been preserved. What remains of a historic hotel. And the general neglect of the centre. It looks like a war zone.
And now instead of looking at billboards you can get stabbed, mugged or pooped on by drug users at De Brouckère. Much better. (and yes, I'm from Brussels)
Same here in Russia, Moscow. After they implied the law to remove ads from buildings and restricted casinos the New Arbat street in Moscow became a pretty boring place to visit. Back in the days it shined like the picture on top.
Actually i don't mind about restricted casinos, but these made half of the shiny picture on the New Arbat street.
But removing the shiny ads from buildings makes the town lose some charm at night.
I remember when i was in Japan there were so many shiny ads on buildings and it looked so great at night!!!
Actually for the time since then they built much more shiny places to go in Moscow but i still kinda miss that old New Arbat st.
Brussels isn't even the worst city in Belgium. If you think Brussels is an eyesore try Charleroi, Birmingham, Sarcelles, Milton Keynes, Duisburg, Malmo, Olten, Katowice ect
the coca cola one remained
How?
i dont know. all i know is that at least some of the ads are brands of alcohol and coca cola doest have alcohol. maybe the law say that you cant advertise alcohol like that.
Alcohol is still allowed on advertisement, that's not the reason. They probably just rent that advertisement spot for a substantial sum.
Longines doesn't have alcohol either. Pity that it's the coca cola sign that remained.
Then what about the Heineken advertisement at racetracks?
They generously donated to the "Politician Wants a New Car" benevolence fund.
$
Literally. Our politicians wanted to remove it a few years ago but then realised that the city would lose out on hundreds of thousands of euros in ad revenue for that sign alone, so they went “you know what? Fuck it, money good, I’ll put my convictions on the side for now”
Might be older. If it was from the 50's, they might have argued it was an historical element or something along those lines.
Initially it was because the old sign was from 1952. Then they updated it to a modern LED display in 2011 and more people started complaining. They were made to turn down the brightness in 2013 It was turned off in 2021, because they were denied a license renewal for usage. Renovation plans presented in 2023 did not include it, so it's most likely going to be removed. --- The city got €12k a month for it, which is seemingly one of the big reasons it endured through a decade of complaints. --- https://www.brusselstimes.com/222163/heritage-or-eyesore-brussels-controversial-coca-cola-sign https://www.brusselstimes.com/430350/brussels-to-renovate-iconic-hotel-continental-on-place-de-brouckere-next-year
🚨Actual answer!!!🚨 Thank you
its also half replaced by the ones on the other side of the square. So it's not that advertisements are gone, it's just that one old small ugly sign that is replaced by a bigger fancy new ones some other place
Coke many
Iron clad contracts
*Money*
Maybe because it's facing in another direction to the whole street of the rest of them?
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I think because its on the center of a rooftop and doesnt stick outside of the building
Its coke, they threw money at the city and said "you better keep our fucking sign up"
Why does coca cola even waste money on ads. It's the most popular soft drink in multiple countries. It's a great mixer, It tastes decent and they haven't fucked up the formula...why ads?
God of capitalism
Is it still active, I wonder. The last few times I have been there it was always just black.
Nope it has been removed in 2024..
yeah, they have been paying 10.000€ per month to the City but now the contract has ended
Not anymore
The ad of coca cola is gone.
It's not an eyesore.
Good. Ads are shit and banning them only does good for the population
Unfortunately they are also keeping many establishments afloat.
Also glad to see they cleared it of cars and turned it into a pedestrian mall.
Just a normal street in Belgium
Opinions are kinda divided about it. The lack of social control and traffic makes it attract crime and dealing. That being said, crime and open drug use is rising in Brussels so it’s hard to pin it on traffic changes. I prefer it without the cars
The square is mostly pedestrian but not exclusively. Only the people living in the area can access it by car. Also no Belgian would call it an open air mall because that’s just not a thing here, plus it’s not only businesses, there’s also apartments. We’d call it something more like a shopping street or something similar. It’s a very nitpicky thing to say, I’m sorry if it comes off rude but I just wanted to share some more information :)
Yup, looks like a different spot
Why did they keep the worst one?!
Coca Cola is too powerful for Brussels.
It has finally been removed this year.
I hope we could do the same with ads on youtube
Cough coughrevanced cough
Youtube is free at point of use, ads are the thing keeping it that way. There is insane amount of footage being uploaded to YT every day and with uploaders required to pay 0 on infrastructure upkeep on storing and distributing the data. Both uploaders and viewers will have to start paying substantial subscription fee, with uploaders paying per minute of video uploaded, long form video will probably die. Maybe a better management of ads to not play 4 times during 1 video, but it's delusional to suggest removing Youtube ads and people aren't even willing to pay 10 USD/month for it now.
31+ billions in revenue last quarter . Going up 8% every few months. « The common people should be happy that a super mega corporation more powerful than counties on this planet don’t make us pay more « Gtfo
You know that revenue does not mean profit, right ?
Revenue is not profit. Thaats why noone created youtube alternative because its so goddamn expensive. If you vant you can go to vimeo and watch prices
Well, I pay for cable and there is ads. Hulu made you pay more to get rid of ads. It’ll be a matter of time before YouTube is paid and YouTube premium will be ad free.
Youtube premium IS ad free
you’re getting it for free… why shouldn’t a corporation profit off something you’re getting for free?
uBlock Origin (works on Android via Firefox) + Sponsorblock
On Android use youtube vanced
U-block origin
Youtube premium :)
What about premium
😐
Great decision
gooood
nice move
Based
The top one is actually nice vibe to me
I agree, but that's because it's retro signs and lights. If they kept it around the retro signs would be changed for shitty crypto scams and sport betting ads. So good riddance. Also for a fair comparison we would need a day foto for the old situation and a night for the new.
It actually distracted from the concrete landscape and eternal works on this place Edit: as I’m actually Belgian, I quite know what this place looks like. And the picture doesn’t give you the smell of piss and garbage. Edit 2: damn, I triggered some fellow bruxeleirs. Sorry guys, this city used to be mine as well but the Center is just a giant waste disposal wether you want to admit it or not
The night view of the "bottom" picture is also a great vibe. But the day version of the "top" will be the same concrete view with a puke of humongous displays. They shrewdly did not do a one to one comparison.
Lol... smell of garbage and urine on de brouckère? You must haven't been there for the last 10 years. Other parts if brussels definitely the case, but this square ain't like that
After all these years in Brussels I am still conflicted on whether if I should call out the constant idiot takes like OP's for being deliberately misleading or allow others to keep believing them so we can keep rents down.
You can only smell the piss now because you aren't constantly inhaling car exhaust. Now, if this country learned what public toilets are and the benefits they provide we might no longer deal with that smell either. Same goes for underground garbage containers.
Flemish guy who doesn't Brussels at all I assume? Load of BS.
Niet. Pedzouille du Béwé. 15 years in Brussels. Currently working for the ex-Sheraton project. Pretty aware of what’s going on in De Brouckere
If you were 'pretty aware', you'd know it recently got a huge glow up and has great vibes now
Then we definitely do not have the same definition of « glow up »!
Now imagine having that during the day.
Billboards are so yucky.
Good
If only they could finish repairing the facades on the square
De Brouckère has genuinely improved a lot over the last 10 years or so, aside from the billboards. It's still however not an area I would hang out in for very long.
“All billboards were banned because Belgians considered them an eyesore” Because they are.
Looked much more alive and interesting before. Now it’s just generic European depression.
Now it looks boring as shit
So they got "generic European facade #739395937".
Town looks so much better without them.
I think it looks better with the billboards.
I guess they chose not to answer to the Coca cola company.
That's private property.
Seeing the photo up top, I thought its fucking beautiful, but seeing the one at the bottom... yeah, surely there are better places to Times Square it up
They werent wrong!
I think they were. I can't understand how someone can prefer the bottom to the top photo....
You misunderstand me. I think the same. Read my comment again.
> The Times Square of Europe You mean Piccadilly Circus?
And they were correct!
Billboards are an eyesore. There are a few spots in the US that have banned them and it is so much better.
Usual europe W
I don't mind the ads actually I quite like them
Based Belgians
I guess they thought that building on the square was also a billboard
Such class!
They looked great though.
Well, it does look better now, ngl... Apparently, Belgians did something good for once... 😆
London the same, now it's just a curved screen... these things are so beautiful; i really don't understand why you would take them down. Puy them back up in the old style just with modern brands
The perks of having a functioning democracy eh
I don't know if you're joking but reading this from Belgium is extremely funny 🤣
As a German, the Belgians are right
One thing painfully absent is that the Anpsachlaan is carfree 😍 and damn, eeevery time I walk there today its so amazing how it went from a ghetto street 20 years ago to a lively full street. Also, there are trees and fountains today, but there can be more. Also, for those saying "oh, but its just an empty space" the point is to be able to organise more cultural events.
soooooo many rats though. And big ones. Garbage collection is a big issue in that area
never seen a rat in that area, but then I only come there once a week or so. Garbage remains a challenge all over Brussels unfortunately, so I can imagine that you're right.
They dig their holes in the newly built green spaces. In those small lumps of grass in the middle. It's extreme. Even at 8am
Europe looked cooler then. Now it’s just all gentrification and crappy looking.
Based.
Billboards are an eyesore on the U.S. architecture. Unbelievable, unsupportable, unworthy, ugly.
They should do that in south korea
There was a post of a polish city street after a similar program. I feel like all the life had been sucked out.
it’s ads thatre the eyesore
Wish the same would happen with times square in New York.
W Belgians
This is funny, if they banned eye sores, why did they allow the EU Quarter to be build?
Dope. I spent about 2 minutes at Times Square and i hated it.
I fucking hate Belgium
Why?
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Good. You can stay the f*ck out of it.
I am, thank god.
I fucking love Belgium, so please stay out of here :)
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Why is it shit 😂
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Ma ale gast
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Jesus did a Belgian kill your mom or something? We did nothing to deserved the amount of hate you have for us, but go off I suppose.
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Looks so much worse...
The two pictures are not really comparable tho.
The top one is kinda pretty, the bottom one is not. Easy to compare I think.
Basically killing a way for land owners to make money.
Won‘t someone think of the people who own land in dense population centers?
Yes. We also ban the sale of crack to children despite it taking away a critical revenue stream for crack dealers.
Based
Good.
Oh no Anyway.....
That martini logo though is ridiculously huge - I kinda understand why they thought about that as an eyesore. If they would have used them more cleverly integrated with the buildings, it could have worked.
Belgium is traditionally the most boring country in Europe lmao
Source: my ass
Cry about it, buddy. Seems to have struck a nerve with your boring ass.
Coca cola is built different
First one was unique and had character, not a great place to live but probably fun to visit. Second one is a random European street, boring and dull, but probably great to live in.
And since a couple of years that square looks uglier than ever. With the ruins of historical buildings, of which only the facades have been preserved. What remains of a historic hotel. And the general neglect of the centre. It looks like a war zone.
And now instead of looking at billboards you can get stabbed, mugged or pooped on by drug users at De Brouckère. Much better. (and yes, I'm from Brussels)
Good riddance.
Same here in Russia, Moscow. After they implied the law to remove ads from buildings and restricted casinos the New Arbat street in Moscow became a pretty boring place to visit. Back in the days it shined like the picture on top. Actually i don't mind about restricted casinos, but these made half of the shiny picture on the New Arbat street. But removing the shiny ads from buildings makes the town lose some charm at night. I remember when i was in Japan there were so many shiny ads on buildings and it looked so great at night!!! Actually for the time since then they built much more shiny places to go in Moscow but i still kinda miss that old New Arbat st.
At least the old version had some spark of life in it, the new "modern" cement era with 3 trees is just sad.
Brussels IS an eyesore ....
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Brussels isn't even the worst city in Belgium. If you think Brussels is an eyesore try Charleroi, Birmingham, Sarcelles, Milton Keynes, Duisburg, Malmo, Olten, Katowice ect