Between Casino Advertisements, Leaning Tower Of Pisa Visuals And Blatant Dallas Homer Placation, Dallas’ Newest Landmark Has Flashed Some Interesting Looks.
Aside from producing some solid memes about the lack of progress being made in the continued demolition of Dallas’ newest landmark, the last few days in the ongoing Leaning Tower of Dallas saga have mostly been marked by inaction — to the point, even, that high winds on Wednesday prevented crews from once again flinging their comically small wrecking ball at the edifice.
Really, the most exciting moments involving The Elevator Shaft The Wouldn’t Fall of late have all come after dark, long after those working to bring the structure down have packed up their belongings and headed home for the evening.
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On Tuesday and Wednesday nights specifically — and, let’s be honest, likely continuing on through the weekend and until whenever this whole ordeal comes to its close — the concrete mass has become something of an open canvas for Dallas’ projector-toting set.
Of course, not all projections are created equal. That in mind, let’s rank the three most-prominent projections the Tower has seen plastered onto its southwest-facing wall these last few nights in order of their objective coolness.
3. I ❤️ Dallas
Ain’t nothing wrong with a little homerism from time to time, no. But considering the possibilities of what one could project onto a a building that has so quickly ascended to iconic status, this Wednesday night offering is about the lowest-possible-hanging fruit — and that’s before even considering that this is a ripoff of another city’s famed ad campaign, so much so that a visual like this could even inspire a lawsuit if history is any indicator.
Just a big yawn of an effort, really.
2. The Richard Group’s “Guerrilla” Choctaw Casino & Resort Ad
We gotta give credit where it’s due: Others (this website included) may have had the idea to throw some projections onto the Leaning Tower of Dallas in recent days, but the Dallas advertising powerhouse The Richards Group was the first to actually do so, projecting a high-resolution advertisement for its Durant, Oklahoma, casino client onto the structure on Tuesday night in what was widely acclaimed as a clever guerrilla marketing tactic.
The Richards Group certainly has a few advantages over the rest of the playing field here, though. For one, its headquarters are located right across the Central Expressway from the new landmark. And, secondly, the company’s noted deep pockets would seemingly make pulling off a stunt like this more achievable that it would be for most others.
It’s a little tough to celebrate such a clearly capitalistic move as a guerrilla tactic, in my opinion. While “firsties” indeed has value, there’s just something undeniably gross about usurping a beloved landmark and turning it into an ad for a fucking casino.
What they say is true, though: The house always wins.
1. Leaning Tower of Pisa
Likely the work of the same projectionist behind the “I ❤️ Dallas” visual, this Wednesday night projection — in which the Leaning Tower of Dallas’ was digitally covered with a drawing of the Leaning Tower of Pisa that inspired our own off-kilter structure’s publicly adopted name — is pretty clearly the best use of this canvas to date.
It’s humorous, it’s not mired in commercial gains or try-hard hometown cheerleading and it’s just a nice tip of the cap to the OG that paved the path we’re now partying on.
In other words: It’s art.
Cover photo illustration of the Central Track logo being projected onto the Leaning Tower of Dallas by Kyle Inabinette.