BBMP’s new advertisement policy has no space for movie posters

BENGALURU: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which okayed a new advertisement policy on Tuesday banning all sort of commercial hoardings and boards, has made it clear that there will be no space for cinema advertisements and posters across the city.

The new advertisement policy forbids commercial boards or hoardings anywhere except on bus shelters, skywalks and public toilets built on public-private partnership. No advertisements promoting individual products will be allowed on name boards of shops or commercial establishments. Exceptions have also been made for public welfare messages and publicising government schemes. Speaking to The New Indian Express, BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said they have made no provision for cinema advertisement boards and hoardings including cinema posters.

Earlier,  Mayor N Sampath Raj had promised to discuss about providing dedicated space for cinema advertisements including digital motion publicity with the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC). “There is a proposal for motion posters, which is expensive. But if it works, we will implement it. This will reach wider public and will be attractive,’’ he said. “Once okayed, we will include it in our Advertisement Policy,’’ he had stated.  But the new policy does not have any mention of it.

This has evoked a mixed response from the industry. S Mahesh Kumar, who directed the Kannada movie Ayogya, which was released a fortnight ago, said this has affected the movie to some extent. “Not all our viewers will check internet ratings and watch a movie. Our audience are mostly auto drivers, cab drivers and others who come to the theatre after seeing the cinema posters. These posters will have name of the theatre and show timings. We are also not against keeping the city clean. All we demand is designated space to put up our cinema posters,’’ he said.

Noted director Tharun Sudhir welcomed the move. “In the era of digital media, unlike before, cinema publicity can be given using social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp. With internet service available for cheap, cinema publicity can be made easier and accessible. One has to spend more money on posters and also the  reach is not as wide as compared to social media. There was a time when cinema banners were in cloth, slowly we switched to vinyl for better display,’’ he said.