Another Graffiti Marketing Controversy

Some controvery has brewed in the East Village over a graffiti mural/marketing poster for the recently released 50 Cent flick “Get Rich or Die Tryin’ ”. Local graffiti artists such as Antonio Garcia, a veteran Lower East Side graffiti artist, better known by his tag, Chico are speaking out. “What kind of message is that for kids?” Garcia said, referring to the Fifty Cent mural by graffiti artist A. Charles. “You can’t put disgusting things on walls like guns. When you walk down the neighborhood you want to see color. Make it bright, not depressing.”

Charles responded by saying “The wall wasn’t done to hurt nobody, it wasn’t done because of the guns. It was done out of respect for the movie and how far Fifty Cent got…especially as a black man.” Charles, who does street advertisements, T-shirts and even snow globes, said he admired the film and its marketing campaign. When he saw that the wall on the corner of Third St. was burned (a Con Edison explosion scorched the wall in early August) and covered in tags, he asked the superintendent of the building if he could put up a mural. Read more (The Villager)