By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Times Square in going dark — at least online.
Morgan Spurlock, the award winning filmmaker of "Super Size Me," is taking on another super-sized project — removing every advertisement from Times Square.
And the challenge is so big, he's asking for the public's help with his new project, 'NO AD: NEW YORK CITY.'
Spurlock has divided a 360 degree panoramic shot of the Crossroads of the World into slices and he wants users to log on, pick a slide, and digitally remove every ad they see. The site's ad-busing image editor works a lot like Photoshop, allowing users to zoom in and pick various brush tools to manipulate the shot.
Spurlock said the NO AD project was inspired by Sao Paulo, Brazil, where outdoor advertising has been banned since 2007 as a form of "visual pollution."
"Why can't we do this in the US?" he asked on the site. "The results can be striking. If it’s impressive enough in the virtual world, imagine it becoming reality."
The launch also coincides with the release of Spurlock’s latest documentary, "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold," which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and documents the impact of advertising and product placements.
The project, first reported by tech blogs mashable.com and TechCrunch, is reminiscent of another plan by a young Dutch design student to replace all of Times Square's advertising billboards with modern art, transforming the Crossroads of the World into a giant outdoor gallery space.
Amsterdam’s Justus Bruns has now raised $10,575 dollars to fulfill his quest, according to his website.
