Welp, the city has decided to halt its brilliant anti-littering campaign before it even had a chance to get off the ground.

If you’ve recently walked by a streetcar or read a newspaper, then you then you’ve likely seen one of the ads. They combine popular brands to shame litterbugs. One of the ads, for example, has a Du Maurier cigarette pack and a Red Bull combine to spell out “Dumb”.

The decision to halt the campaign came after several companies expressed concerns over their products being shown in a negative light.

“Concerns were subsequently raised by various companies about the use of their trademarks and the potentially negative effect that this campaign might have on their brands, even though the affected companies have indicated their support for the City’s anti-littering initiatives,” said city spokesperson Siobhan Ramsay in an interview with 680 News.

Thankfully, through the magic of the Internet the ads persevered until the end of time, or until we bury the world under a mountain of garbage, whichever one comes first. [via 680 News]

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Igor Bonifacic is the managing editor of Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter.

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