The Moderate Party’s Ad Stunt Reported to Police by the City of Stockholm

The Moderate Party has used an unusual tactic in the election campaign, cleaning political messages onto crosswalks in Stockholm. The City of Stockholm has now reported the campaign to the police.

With just over three weeks left before the election, the Moderates have chosen an unconventional method to spread their political message in Stockholm. The party has used so-called “cleaning graffiti,” where messages are created by cleaning dirt off a surface.

According to Resumé, the Moderates have used stencils and pressure washers to clean messages onto ten crosswalks in Stockholm. The method is also known as reverse graffiti. One of the places this was done is outside the Social Democrats’ party headquarters on Sveavägen 68.

The campaign comes at a time when the Moderates and the other Tidö parties have focused on the issue of abolishing reduced sentences. The topic has played a prominent role in the Moderates’ communication, including on social media.

However, the creative move has resulted in a different consequence than the attention the party sought. The City of Stockholm has reported the campaign to the police.

“According to general local regulations in Stockholm, it is not permitted to display messages in a public place without a permit. Posting messages, even by cleaning, is deemed by the Traffic Office to be akin to graffiti, and the Traffic Office has therefore removed the discovered messages from the crosswalks in accordance with the city’s graffiti policy,” writes Erik Berglund, Press Officer at the Traffic Office, in an email to Resumé.

Cleaning graffiti differs from traditional graffiti in that no new material has to be added to the surface. Instead, for example, a pressure washer is used to remove dirt and thus create a pattern or a message. The method is already established within street art and guerrilla marketing.