A Stitch in Haste

Which is worse:

China banning ads:

China has banned a Nike TV commercial featuring U.S. basketball star LeBron James in a battle with a cartoon kung fu master, citing "indignant feelings among Chinese viewers."

The decision, posted Monday on the Web site of China's State Administration for Radio, Film and Television, is the latest in a string of high-profile rows over advertising that highlights the cultural and political pitfalls that afflict marketing in China for even the savviest foreign companies.
...
The ad violates regulations that "all advertisements must uphold national dignity and interest, and respect the motherland's culture," said the Sarft site. The statement didn't specify why the ad was offensive, and a Sarft spokesperson wasn't available for comment.

Or New York City monopolizing them?

New York's Olympic organizers have reserved almost all the outdoor advertising space in the city as part of a marketing plan to land the 2012 Games. The city is trying to prove to the International Olympic Committee and corporate sponsors that it can control advertisements.

The idea isn't for the city to buy advertising. Instead, the city is demonstrating that ad space would be available to the companies who spend the money to become official Olympic sponsors.

Last month, the city's Olympic organizers struck deals with nine billboard companies that together control 95 percent of outdoor advertising venues. That includes some 600,000 billboards, subway signs and other outdoor ad space. The agreements came soon after Mayor Michael Bloomberg created a special board to stifle marketing from advertisers who are not official Olympic sponsors.

At the end of the day, are the two actions really all that different?

Red China, Blue New York. Go figure.

Related Posts:
The Great Mall of China
NYC and the Olympics: Some Tidbits
Anybody But Bloomberg: NYC and the Olympics

(Cross-linked at Outside the Beltway.)