by thesavageway | May 21, 2025 | clean graffiti
We are honored to continue work with Mecklenburg County, North Carolina on this important Clean Graffiti campaign for the 988 Hotline for Suicide Prevention & Crisis Line. What a great way to remind people throughout the city that there is hope out there.
By simply calling or texting “988,” anyone can get help with social or family situations, depression, anxiety, thoughts of suicide, alcohol or drug use. You can also call if you just need someone to talk to. Mecklenburg County has resources available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s free, private, one-on-one help.
We were able to sprinkle these health & community messages throughout the county. It is so important that everyone knows that this resource is available regardless or your location or economic status.
Clean Graffiti is an amazing advertising vehicle to spread social and community messages like this. Seeing a message on the sidewalk is unexpected and may very well be the message that someone needed! We absolutely love seeing this eco-friendly medium being used to spread positivity and hope to a vulnerable population. Community matters, especially in times of mental crisis.
988 Hotline is a free suicide & crisis lifeline available 24/7. Simply call or text to chat with someone when you are struggling. There is never any judgement, just a listening ear and a person to give your resources. Check out more information here.
As the sidewalk message in Clean Graffiti reads, “It’s NEVER too late.” Check on your people, say “I love you,” and show up for others. And utilize 988 whenever needed.
by thesavageway | Oct 14, 2024 | clean graffiti
Community health messages are such a great use of Clean Graffiti and that is exactly what Proof Alliance NC has done for over a year now. This amazing organization is using unexpected placement (aka the sidewalk) to help spread an extremely important message about not drinking alcohol during pregnancy.
More About Proof Alliance NC
Proof Alliance NC is the North Carolina arm of the national nonprofit organization, Proof Alliance. They are the national leader in promoting the benefits of alcohol-free pregnancy and supporting those impacted by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Proof Alliance NC strives to prevent alcohol-exposed pregnancies by providing training, education and resources to professionals who serve individuals of reproductive age, deliver prevention messaging and resources to individuals who can become pregnant. Their work also provides resources for professionals who provide supports to families and individuals impacted by FASD.
The Clean Graffiti Campaign
The Savage Way has had the honor of working with Proof Alliance NC on multiple Clean Graffiti campaigns across the state. We placed a message that says, “Alcohol & Pregnancy Don’t Mix. We Have The Proof,” in both big cities like Charlotte, Raleigh and Winston-Salem, to smaller towns and beach cities where outdoor advertising is typically not really an option. Our eco-friendly sidewalk messages are such a great alternative to capture the attention of people walking to a bar / restaurant, waiting at a bus stop or walking to the park.
We love when we have a chance to use our medium for public health and community messages. Too often we are bombarded by billboards, radio ads, social media ads, tv, etc. and we totally miss the message. The beauty of Clean Graffiti (aka reverse graffiti) is that the sidewalk is not a place you typically see a message. It’s created used only high pressure water so it is an eco-friendly outdoor messaging tactic. Proof Alliance has been an exceptional client when it comes to trusting the medium and the impact that it can have on a targeted audience. We look forward to a continued partnership with the Proof Alliance NC team.
by thesavageway | Aug 1, 2023 | clean graffiti
Hello! This is Paula Bartlett, one of the owners of The Savage Way. I write these blogs but today wanted to share the story of how we brought Clean Graffiti to life from my perspective. Enjoy.
We get asked daily, “What exactly is Clean Graffiti?” Ten years in and we’re still fortunate enough to explain this disruptive outdoor advertising medium to people. And it’s just as exciting every time! However, I don’t think we’ve ever shared how Clean Graffiti came about for us. So here is the story of how we brought Clean Graffiti to life.
Prior to The Savage Way, Torrie worked in the marketing and advertising industry. She spent 10 years in media buying for a few different employers. She was responsible for managing budgets and getting as much unique exposure for her clients as possible. So her brain was always thinking in ads; looking at billboards, magazine ads, bus ads, etc. Well one day she was pressure washing the driveway at her parent’s house and free-handed the name “Savage.” (pressure washing the dirt away to leave the “cleaned” letters showing). Immediately her brain thought, “That would be a great ad, but it would have to be crisp and follow brand standards.”
She did what we all do when we have an idea and Googled it, sure enough, there was an artist in Europe (Paul Curtis aka Moose) who was pressure washing art onto old, dirty walls. The results were beautiful. Using mother nature to create art was a revolutionary idea to her. Fast forward a few years, The Savage Way started. At the time we were a marketing agency helping clients with social media, business openings, community engagement, etc. Torrie casually mentioned this sidewalk advertising idea to me one day and I said, “What are we doing?! This is incredible. Let’s do that!” Immediately we started researching and trying to see how we could bring this idea to life. I remember countless late nights in Torrie’s loft in the NoDa neighborhood in Charlotte, NC where we would just dream and talk about how we would do this out-of-the-box idea.
But before we could even work out all the details, an opportunity knocked on our door. We were introduced to a marketing legend in Charlotte, Blair Primis. He was the VP of Marketing for a privately owned orthopedic surgeons office. Blair was open to new ideas and always looking for ways to make his brand stand out. And I’ll never forget sitting down with him to pitch some ideas and seeing the light in his eyes and smile on his face when we told him our idea. “Genius,” he said. “I want the biggest option you’ve got.” WHAT?! To have someone believe in your idea when you haven’t even physically done a campaign yet… it was the exact boost that we needed.
We left that meeting saying give us a few months to figure this thing out and we will be ready to go. Torrie and I worked with such passion and excitement to bring this idea to fruition. When the day came to see our stencil (the first iteration) being pressure washed onto the sidewalk, we did a little happy dance. This was real. Clean Graffiti was a thing. A major brand was paying us to advertise on this untapped asset that Mother Nature created. It was all so thrilling.
No one tells you how tricky it is to start a business that is disruptive to the space. No one was doing what we were doing and it was a lot of trial and error to land where we did. To say we were green was an understatement. We went through so many iterations of the stencil, how we selected spots, how many spots to offer, and how to price this service no one knew they wanted. But selling this to clients was something that Torrie did have experience in. Her decade of media buying allowed us to know what a client would be looking for. It gave us insight into crafting these packages that could compete with billboard buys and other outdoor advertising opportunities.
So we kept going and focused on selling Clean Graffiti to clients. Along the way we have carved our own path and had the chance to really grow this industry. One of our European counterparts, Jim Bowes, happened to be in Nashville, TN early on and made a road trip from Charlotte, NC to chat with him on his experiences doing “Reverse Graffiti” (what he called it). It was so fun to talk shop with someone who got it and was dealing with similar hurdles. Read more about it in our blog from 2014. I never thought in a million years that Torrie and I would be strategically cleaning sidewalks for a living. Haha – it makes us laugh every time that we see dirty concrete, “Oh, thats a fantastic canvas!”
That was over ten years ago. Since then, we’ve completed work in 70+ cities across the US including Los Angeles, CA, Portland, OR, Vancouver, WA, New York, NY, Chicago, IL, Atlanta, GA, Boston, MA, Baltimore, MD, Austin, TX, Houston, TX, and countless other cities and towns across the country. We’ve worked with companies/brands like Diet Coke, The Rolling Stones, Carolina Panthers, Truist Bank, The ACC Tournament, Novant Health, county & state agencies and so many more.
Now you may be asking why do our clients use Clean Graffiti? There are a myriad of reasons, but a few to note:
- Unexpected: In our overstimulated world, seeing a message on the ground is novel and captures attention.
- Longevity: Spots can last from one month to over 6 months, depending on the type of dirt, weather, traffic, etc.
- Creative: Using dirt to create a brand message is so far out of the norm that it doesn’t fit in a box.
- It’s Just Water: Our medium is eco-friendly in that is is made just using water – no paint, acid, bleach or etching.
- Temporary: Clients love it for an event-driven ad campaign where we remove the spots after the event date.
- Impactful: The sidewalk is an untapped resource that allows for brand awareness, inspiration or event-driven info where it’s never been before.
We always love telling the story of how we brought Clean Graffiti to life. We believe in this medium and know that our innovation is sparking creative ideas and sending out inspiration all of the time. We’re ready when you are to clean some sidewalks!
by thesavageway | Jul 24, 2023 | clean graffiti
We love all of the creative uses of Clean Graffiti that we can offer our clients. From general brand awareness campaigns to feel-good inspirational messages on the sidewalk, the possibilities are vast with this medium. We wanted to showcase a few of our favorite creative uses from over the years. Maybe this will inspire your next campaign with us.
For those that don’t know, Clean Graffiti is an advertising and messaging medium that The Savage Way has been offering for over 10 years now. We’ve been in 70+ markets across America and we continue to be the leaders in the U.S. in this space. Also known as Reverse Graffiti, Clean Graffiti is created using a stencil, pressure washer and naturally dirty sidewalks. We use high-pressure water to clean a message onto the sidewalk. We are not painting, spraying any chemicals or altering the integrity of the sidewalk in any way. It’s just water. 🙂 Check out some frequently asked questions here.
Now on to the creative uses of Clean Graffiti that we have loved over the years.
Tend Dentistry: New York City: The folks at Tend Dentistry in the Flatiron District in Manhattan came to us with this cheeky play-on-words that we could make into Clean Graffiti. The fact that we are both just cleaning away dirt (aka plaque) was just perfect. Love when brands can get playful and fun with their advertising.
OrthoCarolina: Multi-cities in North Carolina: OrthoCarolina had been a client of ours for a while and we had done tons of branding campaigns together (check out past project blogs for more details). However, as a group of private orthopedic surgeons who specialize in fixing broken bones, we thought of this clever “Watch Your Step” Clean Graffiti campaign. The idea was while we were out executing campaigns and we saw dangerous, broken sidewalks, we would put down this safety message for pedestrians or cyclists brought to you by OrthoCarolina. Just a subtle reminder that *if* you did need a bone specialist, you would know who to call.
(Left) Greenpeace #IStand4Solar in Charlotte, NC: The global non-profit, Greenpeace, asked us to create an impactful Clean Graffiti campaign for the Charlotte market. We wanted to do something that was not only a directive (stand here and notice) but told the passerby to use on social media (using the #). We saw great interaction with the Clean Graffiti which led users to learn more about the Greenpeace mission – to use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
(Right): NC Department of Transportation, Watch For Me Campaign in small beach towns in NC: This was a campaign that we ran for several years that focused on pedestrian and cyclist safety, Watch For Me NC. We put these down across coastal beach towns that saw a huge influx of tourists in the summer months. The NCDOT gave us specific data that pinpointed where vehicles crashed with pedestrians that either ended in an accident or fatality. There are such limited advertising opportunities in these small, rural towns, so Clean Graffiti was not only a viable option, but it was welcomed as an opportunity to actually make meaningful communication with the community.
(Left) Not Just Coffee, Charlotte, NC: Not Just Coffee is a locally-owned coffee shop that came up the same time that The Savage Way did. We are friends with the owners and we pitched them the idea of Clean Graffiti with a play-on-words with their name. We know that everyone LOVES coffee and social media posts with anything coffee related always got great engagement, but NJC was so invested in the community that they were more than just a place to grab coffee. We came up with “Love People, Not Just Coffee.” Genius. We partnered with local artist, Matt Hooker, to help with the creative and this beautiful message was born!
(Right): #ExploreYour704 NoDa Brewing, OrthoCarolina in Charlotte, NC: #ExploreYour704 was an intricate idea that we came up with that included a Clean Graffiti “Scavenger Hunt,” huge mural on the side of a brewery, multiple vendors and a big launch party that encouraged walking. To say this was an unusual case study is an understatement. In fact, doing a Clean Graffiti scavenger hunt is not something we even offer, but we are obsessed with how we used dirty sidewalks to create a movement game, celebrate the city we live in and bring awareness to our clients at the same time. Read more about it in the blog.
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So that’s a quick snapshot of some of the creative uses of Clean Graffiti over the years. Check out our instagram for more examples. We look forward to creating more marketing magic using our eco-friendly advertising alternative.
by thesavageway | Jul 11, 2022 | Uncategorized
Charlotte is now officially a soccer city, and we are here for it! Charlotte FC, our city’s first professional MLS team, has taken the Queen City by storm. Did you catch the last game against Nashville SC? Our guys electrified the arena with a 4-1 win! It was incredible.
THE CAMPAIGN
Here at The Savage Way, we had the opportunity to collaborate with Charlotte FC on a Clean Graffiti campaign. Our guerilla style of outdoor advertising was used to create some hype around the inaugural season and asked the important question, “Are You Ready to Party?!” We placed 18 Clean Graffiti spots in high foot-traffic areas to spread the word. Spots ended up in areas such as Plaza Midwood, NoDa, Elizabeth, Uptown, and Wesley Heights.
THE DESIGN
The design of the stencil for this reverse graffiti campaign consisted of a crown, along with the words “Are You Ready to Party?” and the Instagram handle; @charlottefc. The four-point crown represents the team’s logo, the tagline enhances the energy, and the handle is so you can connect with the team first hand. This eco-friendly medium is an innovative way to connect with the audience.
Clean Graffiti is created by making a contrast on the sidewalk using high pressure water over a custom stencil. (A Clean Message on a Dirty Sidewalk as we always say). Not only is reverse graffiti eco-friendly, but it’s an eye-catching message that can be used for brand awareness campaigns, events or a call-to-action. The spots can be placed anywhere a sidewalk is present making it not only creative, but accessible to everyone.
So yeah, we are ready to party! The energy that Charlotte FC is bringing to this city is palpable. Stoked to have another team to cheer for! Learn more about Charlotte FC and get game updates on their website & Instagram.
