Sign of the Times: Another building billboard pops up in Detroit

From the mural that adorns the Cadillac Tower and stands over Campus Martius Park, to the Broderick Tower billboard that hawks cellphones to folks at Comerica Park, building-side billboards seem to be a growing trend in downtown Detroit.

Before you go popping off with a real clever "At least they're using that building for something!" comment, our latest sighting graces the side of 1001 Woodward, not one of the unused towers downtown.

Visible from the north side of the 1001 building is a huge ad for the 'Droid, a fact that tells us much about people in today's world. One, we must like smart phones. And two, we must really like smart phones. In fact, if the cellphone marketing competition track record holds true, I expect we'll soon see an ad for the iPhone plastered all  over the RenCen.

Before you get too stirred up thinking that these billboards indicate the over-commercialization of downtown Detroit, sit tight. We hear the city is selling naming rights to The People Mover stations. Up first? The MetroPCS Greektown station.

More cell phones. We should've known. 

Imported From Detroit: Chrysler slogan takes on new life after SuperBowl ad

The Chrysler ad featuring Eminem that had (and still has) everybody talking following its airing during Superbowl XLV has spawned more than just conversation and web chat.

It also - even if inadvertently - launched a slogan that Detroit faithful immediately embraced, which in turn prompted Detroit-area company Wall-U to produce "Imported From Detroit" laptop skins and wall hangings. Available in 7-inch or 32-inch sizes, the "Imported From Detroit" removable stickers offer just one example of how the Internet is buzzing about the commercial, Eminem's appearance in it, the positive (and sometimes negative) reaction that followed it, and the slogan that appeared at its end. No doubt somewhere, t-shirts are already being printed.

To learn more about the Wall-U skins and wall hangings, click here to visit their Facebook page.

Mane Attraction: MGM Grand Casino lion takes over Cadillac Tower

We always knew a bottle of Jack didn't last long.

Sure enough, the enormous Jack Daniels advertisement that recently adorned the Campus Martius-facing side of the Cadillac Tower is gone, replaced recently by a mammoth ad featuring the MGM Grand Casino lion.

No word on whether this was in response to community objections, similar to those voiced when Billy Dee Williams and his Colt 45 billboards dotted the city. But it wouldn't be surprising, considering the Campus Martius area is about host hundreds of families and children for another Motown Winter Blast.

In any event, the MGM ad is a cool-looking billboard, probably my favorite piece of signage to hang from the Cadillac Tower since Barry Sanders occupied the space years ago. Is it too early to start hoping a picture of Ndamukong Suh ends up there?

2011 Detroit auto show, Mercedes advertising goes big time

It's seems everything's bigger at the North American International Auto Show. Especially the advertising on a nearby building.

Taking a cue from the Broderick Tower advertising across town, Mercedes-Benz has plastered an enormous billboard on the east-facing side of the old 25-story Pontchartrain Hotel, and it covers nearly the entire side of the building. That's about 245 feet in height (or about 75 meters for our faithful Canadian readers).

It's nice to see somebody getting at least some use out of the old Pontch, which has been vacant since the summer of 2009, when it officially known as the Detroit Riverside Hotel. Visitors to the Detroit auto show can look for the ad (as if they could miss it!) across Washington Boulevard from the main entrance into Cobo Hall.

Jack Daniels ad takes over prominent space overlooking Campus Martius

Once upon a time, members of the Detroit City Council were all stirred up because of the Colt 45 billboards featuring Billy Dee Williams that had popped up all over the city.

Wonder what they'll think of this?

Replacing the huge mural that announced Quicken Loans' recent arrival to downtown Detroit, it now appears as if a Jack Daniels billboard will occupy the Campus Martius Park-facing side of the Cadillac Tower. Installation of the new mural was only half-complete when we wandered by earlier today, but the Black Jack brand was already clear.


To be fair, many of the city council members who were chafed by the Colt 45 signage aren't around any longer, after being either voted out of office or incarcerated. It'll be interesting to see how the new council reacts to having a 12-story whiskey ad towering over the city's public skating rink.

Visiting the old Bob-Lo Island docks in Detroit

Word has it the S.S. Ste. Claire is docked at U.S. Steel in Ecorse undergoing restoration. The S.S. Columbia is being restored as well, and will one day service the Hudson River in New York.

Both used to reside here, at the foot of Clark Street in what wasn't always a mostly abandoned section of southwest Detroit. Driving out of downtown, the old docks are now sort of a Gateway into Delray (Spanish for "place of very tall weeds"). It feels strange somehow that the Bob-Lo Island sign is still painted on the wall.

Quicken announces move downtown in a big way

You may recall the huge image of Barry Sanders that once covered the side of the Cadillac Building in downtown. Or maybe you don't. In any event, since the picture of Barry was removed in 2002, the side of building has been a parade of advertisements for cars, banks, and the like. The other day, Quicken Loans took over, announcing the move of their headquarters from Livonia.

Quicken's original plans to build a new headquarters have reportedly been shelved temporarily, and they'll instead occupy a few floors in the Compuware Building. Some 1,700 new workers have already begun making a daily drive every morning. I know this much: hot dog guy is loving it.

Parched? Detroit is the place to be in May

Who knew?

It turns out, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is celebrating its 25th annual Drinking Water Month, an occasion that aims to promote the fact that the DWSD provides high-quality H2O to 4.3 million people in southeast Michigan. This year's theme is "Only Tap Water Delivers". Our research team is still working on trying to determine what that actually means.

To honor the occasion, you can schedule a tour of one of the city's five water treatment plants. If you don't have that kind of time, might we suggest you simply visit the nearest sink, grab yourself 8 ounces of cool, clear water, and raise a glass to the fact that you're able to visit the nearest sink, grab 8 ounces of cool, clear water, and drink it.

Happy DWM everybody!

One Tough Nerd rolls through downtown Detroit

No spotting the actual nerd himself, but we did come across gubernatorial hopeful Rick Snyder's campaign bus parked outside the Fort Shelby DoubleTree Hotel this afternoon. It looked like a pretty sweet rig, although not even my oh-so-official-looking Kage Credentials (I still flash them on occasion) could get us on board.

The guy standing alongside the bus in this photo isn't so much a security guard as a helper with a magic marker, which passers-by were free to use to autograph the side of the bus in a show of support. Man, where are Detroit's elite graffiti afficianados when you need them?

Dining at the RenCen: 'That Food Court'

During the aforementioned Bring Your Cheeky Red-Head to Work Day, Meg and I paid a visit to McDonald's, which is in the food court at the RenCen. Midway through a french fry, she paused and with a puzzled look, asked about a sign that hangs over the counter next to McDonald's.

"That Sandwich Place?" she asked.

I hadn't seen it yet, and started laughing. "That's a pretty funny name for a restaurant, isn't it?" I said.

'Yeah, it's a pretty funny name," she said, wearing that 'Megan' face. Then, after thinking about it a little more, she added, "But it isn't really a good name."

Check out this cool new pub poster

According to Inside Detroit – the city's unofficial welcoming committee – there are 125 bars in the one-square-mile area that constitutes downtown Detroit.

That's a lotta drinkin'!

And it makes this poster that I spotted the other day at Mac's on Third that much more impressive. Actually, it's called a Pubster, and while it doesn't include all 125 bars, it does a pretty good job of hitting the big ones. If you're looking to kill five minutes, you can click here and read an exquisitely written article that tells all about it.

The Harmonie Cafe: A guy and his grill

A guy named Mike stood behind the counter, talking to another guy about the latest scandal to hit Detroit. (It’s so new, I don’t think it’s been reported yet. If you hear something about a water department official, a prostitute, a crack house, and a city-owned vehicle, just remember that the Kage semi-reported it first.)

Anyway, Mike runs a little place not far from Comerica Park called the Harmonie Café, the only restaurant I’ve ever been in that’s smaller than my kitchen. Literally. I counted. It seats nine people – the counter seats five and two little tables by the window seat two apiece. But Mike makes a pretty good cheeseburger, and - if the signs are to be believed - Detroit’s most-wanted Philly cheese steak.

I was actually more entertained by the café’s other advertisements, like the one for “Chicken and Waffles” pictured here. There’s also one for “Jive Turkey Burgers” and another for “Kool-Aid”. (That’s the Kool-Aid jug on the left side of the photo.) 

(Editor's note: The information above is all true, and despite your suspicions, none of it was pulled from an old episode of "What's Happening?" The Harmonie Cafe is a real place. Seriously.)

Washington Boulevard: This is the Street that Dave Built

Before he bolted for warmer air, Dave worked a construction job on Washington Boulevard downtown. Remember that huge, stupid-looking red thing that used to run up one side of the road? It looked like monkey bars for really big people. The city eventually realized it was silly and got rid of it; we can thank Dave, at least in part, for tidying up afterwards. 

Washington Boulevard is one of the nicest stretches downtown nowadays, home to the newly refurbished Book-Cadillac Hotel. If rumors have it right, other renovations are in the works, including the Book Tower on the other side of the street. (More on that building some time soon; it’s really cool looking. I saw them power-washing it the other day – and I thought doing my old deck was a pain!)

Anyway, as you can tell by the sign pictured here, many of the businesses lining Washington don’t cut any corners when it comes to marketing. I was over there a few weeks ago and when I saw this sign, I figured he would appreciate it. Dave likes himself some misspelled food as much as the next guy. In honor of that…

This is the Street that Dave Built

This is a sign

That hangs on the window

Of a store that sells “sanwiches”

That Dave would’ve bought

When he went to get chew

On a break from his backhoe

That he used to fix pipes

That run through the ground

Under the street that Dave built.

Discovering (and trying to figure out) the Spongebob Parking Lot

Somethings just defy explanation. Like vegetarian lasagna. And Keanu Reeves' career. And now this. In downtown Detroit, near the Rosa Parks Transit Center, we stumbled across a parking lot that features Spongebob Squarepants on its sign.

Walking around Detroit, I've gotten used to people sleeping near statues – I still can't figure that one out, there's got to be something softer, but they do it all the time!  But seeing Spongebob on a sign really caught my attention, and immediately raised a few questions: 

One, why Spongebob? Two, why not Plankton? Three, isn't it illegal to just, you know, steal a trademarked character? And four (and most interesting to me) has the parking lot owner really seen a spike in business since putting this sign up?

Check out the CMU shrine at Comerica Park

Given the sports news of the weekend, it seems fitting that we revisit the enormous Dan LeFevour mural on the backside of the leftfield scoreboard at Comerica Park.

For those who don't know, LeFevour is the quarterback for Central Michigan's football team.

For those who don't know, Central beat Michigan State Saturday.

For those who don't know, we at the Kage root for CMU.

...so there was much rejoicing!

Colt 45 billboards causing a stir

Remember those news reports earlier this summer about the Colt 45 billboards in Detroit that are being fussed about by a lot of people, including some members of the Detroit City Council?

In case you haven’t had a chance/reason to be downtown lately, I thought I’d show you a picture of what all the ruckus is about.

Apparently some city council members are looking for a way to draft legislation that would give them some control over the content of billboard advertising. Not that I care if Colt 45 billboards are removed, but it seems like Detroit has image problems worth worrying about that are bigger than big beer ads. Naturally, one of the council members tossed out the “racist” comment, but from everything I read she didn’t elaborate as to how. (Billy Dee Williams is in the ads. I wonder if she’s calling him a racist?)

This whole thing raises a bunch of questions, such as: “What’s worse for the well-being of Detroiters, billboards promoting Colt 45, or billboards promoting the casinos?” Or better yet, “What’s worse for the well-being of Detroiters, billboards promoting Colt 45, or billboards (no longer available) that promoted Kwame Kilpatrick?”

There's a tough one...