Bold and brilliant art adorns Shoreditch’s brick walls, bringing in tourists and transforming the urban landscape into a colour-laden canvas. Yet, scrutinise one of these striking street murals for more than a few seconds and you might just find it’s a building-sized ad for San Miguel.
The promotional mural is a graffiti-based phenomenon that has been rapidly spreading over the past two decades. Yet this fusion of art and commerce brings with it a host of ethical questions. As the ever-ironic Oatly put it: “Is this a piece of art or one of those oat drink ads?”
It’s not just San Miguel that has spotted the marketing potential within street art – the Tabernacle Street wall the beer brand used has also been occupied by Adidas and Drunk Elephant. It is the largest advertising space available in Europe, owned by Shoreditch-based company Global Street Art. Promoting itself as an arts organisation, the company operates as an advertising agency that connects big-name brands with muralists looking to monetise their hobby.
Founded in 2012 by Lee Bofkin, a Cambridge PhD graduate, breakdancer and street art enthusiast, Global Street Art has rapidly expanded to open offices in France, Spain and Belgium last year. Its success demonstrates the increasing commercial viability of an artform that was once considered vandalism.
Street artist Adrian Boswell, known as “Broccoli Man” to his fans due to his singular muse, supports the venture and believes any street art is a positive contribution to the area.
“Street art has become one of the most important ways of expression on the street,” he says.
“It attracts millions of tourists all over the world. Big companies employ street artists to advertise through street art and they’re paid a lot of money. It’s 100 per cent a positive thing … urban environments are no longer boring concrete spaces but have become amazing pieces of artwork.”
After working as a chef at the Savoy for 20 years, Boswell started expressing his creativity by spray-painting broccoli and attaching them to the walls around Brick Lane. While initially refusing to sell his street art, Boswell relented four years ago to a particularly adamant tourist and, since then, has reportedly sold over 30,000 broccolis – a weekly turnover rate he claims is higher than Tesco’s.
Boswell has recently secured brand partnerships with Doc Martens and Epic Games; his broccoli art will be immortalised forever in chunky boots and Fortnite. His success is a testament to the opportunities this growing industry secures for street artists as the artform develops a more legitimate – and legal – reputation.
Otto Schade, the man behind some of Shoreditch’s best-known works, agrees that the growing industry improves financial stability for muralists but emphasises that street art’s importance lies in the message it conveys, not the product it is selling.
“It’s about the message,” he says. “I decided to give a message of peace and anti-war. If the message behind the street art is weak, then what is the point?”
Schade is not alone in his scepticism. In an interview with Tim Jentsch, world-renowned street artist Fanakapan was critical of the practice. “I just hope people continue to appreciate street art and the advertising doesn’t ruin it for everyone,” he says. “Nothing is sacred anymore, so we have to try to enjoy it while it lasts.”
It certainly seems ironic that street art – an art form associated with vandalism and rebellion – is now being used to sell oat milk. Author and anthropologist Rafael Schacter believes Shoreditch’s street art is symptomatic of a wider issue – its rapidly changing landscape.
“It’s become part of this idea that this ‘cool, hip, edgy’ area will have some graffiti in it,” he tells FifthWallTV. “It’s part of the visual aesthetic of capital now.”
Video producer and street art specialist Doug Gillen has been a vocal opponent of the marketing practice. “The roots of street art and graffiti exist as one of the most democratic forms of expression possible,” he tells the Hackney Post. “High intensity street art advertising makes a mockery of this history.
“Walls that could be used to exchange ideas… have become highly sanitised, and much like Shoreditch itself, exclusive.”
Shoreditch has seen a significant rise in rent prices with an increase of nearly 14 per cent since last year, while much of its landscape is slated for development, according to Hackney Council’s Future Shoreditch Action Plan. This is a place where graffitied train carts sit next to adverts for Moët et Chandon champagne.
Yet, real street art is still visible on these streets; the medium’s roots in protest and socio-political messaging is clear through emotive pieces addressing Israel and Gaza, or the climate emergency. Amid the advertising, people still find they have a voice via a blank wall and a can of spray paint.
“We made this ad look like street art so you would like it better than if it was just an ad,” brazenly admits another of Oatly’s graffiti murals. Next time you’re in Shoreditch admiring the street art, take a second to check the brand name.
Global Street Art was contacted for comment.
Elise Barry is a beat reporter for Hoxton East and Shoreditch and a student Journalist at City University.