Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Add Good to your Google News feed.
Google News Button

What It Looked Like When São Paulo Removed Over 300,000 Advertisements

Over 300,000 billboards and signs were torn down.

Tod Perry
By Tod PerryOct 29, 2015
Tod Perry
Tod Perry is a freelance writer from Long Beach, California.
See Full Bio

In the United States, advertising is so ubiquitous that when you’re not surrounded by billboards and video screens it almost feels creepy. Just imagine if an iconic U.S. intersection or thoroughfare such as Times Square, the Las Vegas Strip, or Hollywood Boulevard suddenly went ad-free. It would feel pretty empty, right?

Back in 2006, the São Paulo, Brazil, cityscape was so cluttered with advertisements, both legal and illegal, that the city was plagued by what the mayor called “visual pollution.” On New Year’s Day 2007, the Lei Cidade Limpa (Portuguese for “Clean City Law”) took effect in São Paulo, and 15,000 billboards and 300,000 storefront signs were taken down. Photographer Tony de Marco was there and took some amazing pictures of a city in transformation.

(H/T Tony de Marco)



cities

The Latest

workplace boundaries, unpaid labor, quiet quitting, great resignation, Reddit, viral stories, employee rights, micromanagement
Past Events

A boss demanded his employee come in 5 minutes early. The worker's 5-word question shut it right down.

message in a bottle, Clint Buffington, Evan Buffington, Peter Thompson, Pentucket Regional, West Newbury, oceanography class, Pepsi bottle, Coast Guard, Bahamas beach, Emily Maher, WCVB, People magazine, reunion story, viral discovery, human connection, time capsule, beachcombing, found note, Massachusetts teen
Past Events

14-year-old tossed a 'message in a bottle' into the sea, nearly 50 years later, he received the call

Allie Phillips, @.allie.phillips, TikTok, viral video, 6-year-old, love triangle, diamond ring, kindergarten, first grade, parenting
Past Events

6-year-old girl returns from school wearing a massive 'diamond ring'

cashiers, cashier stories, weird stores, humor, retail nightmare
Humor

Cashiers share the 10 craziest, most bizarre interactions they’ve had with customers

More For You

angel shot, bar safety, Benji Spears, TikTok, viral video, bartending, Ask for Angela, code words, safety tip, bystander intervention

A bartender pours a drink

Canva

A bartender saved a woman from a dangerous date after she used a discreet bar code for help

First dates with strangers, especially those arranged through apps, can be a source of anxiety. As people, particularly women, navigate the potential dangers of nightlife, a system of subtle codes has emerged to signal for help. Bartender Benji Spears (@benjispears) is going viral for a TikTok video that not only reenacts a dangerous situation but also clearly explains a safety code that could save a life.

In the video, Spears reenacts a scene where he notices a woman on a date who looks visibly uncomfortable and distressed. He spots the "trouble" in the couple's body language and walks over to check on them, asking if they need water. The woman, understanding the opportunity, orders an "angel shot with lime."

Keep ReadingShow less
fear of the dark, fears, studies, phobias, adult fears

Are men more afraid of the dark than women? One study says yes.

Photo credit: Canva, champja from Getty Images (left, cropped) / Africa images (right, cropped)

Men are more afraid of the dark than women, plus more sleep secrets no one talks about​

My wife is currently in her late 30s, and for the entire 17 years I’ve known her, she’s been leery of the dark. Let’s say we’re winding down for bed and she mutters, "I left my medicine in the car," there’s a 100-percent chance I’ll be the one stumbling out to the driveway, shirtless and bleary-eyed, to grab it. (Apologies to my neighbors.) But I don’t blame her—in the right setting, I also find these post-midnight trips kinda creepy, despite the centering mantras my brain keeps repeating.

So how many people are just like her? Do most adults grow out of fearing the dark, or do many of us continue to glimpse our insecurities in the void? Turns out we have some interesting data to illuminate those points. When Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans in September, 29% of respondents admitted they "still harbor this childhood fear well into adulthood." Also notable is that men (33%) had slightly higher rates than women (26%).

Keep ReadingShow less
peak functionality, age, aging, age discrimination, older people

New research says you haven't peaked in your 20s.

Photo credit: Canva

Researchers reveal the age most hit their 'functional peak' and it's not their 20s

We are a culture obsessed with youth. There are ads upon ads to help maintain a youthful look through makeup or hair restoration. The pressure to keep up with the next generation bombards everyone. There are people in their mid-life who yearn to be young again. However, new research reveals that folks deep in their 30s haven’t even reached their peak potential yet.

Recent research by Gilles Gignac from the University of Western Australia and Marcin Zajenkowski from the University of Warsaw found that while people in their 20s do have maximum physical capability and brain processing speed, most people hit their functional peak around 60 years old.

Keep ReadingShow less
coffee, tea, caffeine, L-theanine, metabolism, synergy, blend, combination, well-being

Woman smiles with morning energy booster.

Photo credit Canva (Rido)

Breakthrough study discovers the perfect way to wake-up with a blend of coffee and tea

Lack of sleep is, unfortunately, a common, growing problem many people face. A morning cup of coffee has often been the go-to solution for finding the pep to face the day, while others seeking to be more health-conscious might choose a substitute like tea.

Turns out, the best solution might lie within a specific combination of the two. The calming effect of L-theanine in tea and the energy boost from caffeine in coffee can be combined to find the perfect, science-based solution that powers and energizes your day.

Keep ReadingShow less
prince, radiohead, radiohead creep, prince creep cover, coachella

Prince staged a legendary cover of Radiohead's "Creep" at Coachella 2008. But for years, it was impossible to watch.

Photo credit: Scott Penner via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0, cropped (left) / Nicolas Lœuillet via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 (cropped, right)

Prince dazzled Coachella with Radiohead's 'Creep.' Years later, fan videos finally found a home.

Despite their admirable efforts to evolve creatively, moving into beat-driven abstractions and lushly orchestral art-rock, Radiohead will probably (for a large chunk of the listening public) always be "the band that released a self-loathing post-grunge hit with the deafening guitar thwack before the chorus." The song, of course, is 1992’s "Creep," and over the years it’s become something of a rock-music standard.

According to Setlist.fm, it’s been covered by 665 artists over the years—at this point, it almost feels like it’s part of the public domain. (In one notable recent example, a college music-theater student went viral with an incredible, operatic version.) But no rendition of that angsty anthem is more famous than Prince’s. He performed the track only one time, at the 2008 Coachella festival, transforming it into a sexy, simmering slow jam. It was a joyous moment of reinvention, of one iconic artist saluting another, but, for years, it was nearly impossible to see the footage.

Keep ReadingShow less
baby names, '80s names, Colleen Slagen, @namingbebe, TikTok, naming expert, Heather, Jennifer, vintage names, parenting

A young couple looks with their new-born baby

Canva

17 once-trendy ‘80s girl names that just ‘didn't age well’

Naming a baby is one of the first big decisions new parents make. While some look for modern, unique names, others turn to the past, hoping to find a retro gem. But as one baby name expert is pointing out in a viral video, there's a big difference between "vintage" and just "dated."

Colleen Slagen, who runs the popular TikTok account @namingbebe, sparked a massive online conversation with a video breaking down popular '80s names that have completely fallen off the charts.

Keep ReadingShow less
Coldplay, Chris Martin, Rob O'Byrne, crowd-surfing, wheelchair, concert, viral video, The Guardian, BBC, inspirational

Chris Martin of Coldplay performs in Atlanta, GA on September 24, 2011

Mark Runyon | Wikimedia Commons

Man in wheelchair crowd-surfs at Coldplay concert. Then Chris Martin makes it really special.

For Rob O'Byrne, persistence and a love for music are just part of his "new normal." But a recent Coldplay concert turned his positive outlook into a life-changing, viral experience.

O'Byrne, who has been in a wheelchair since a tragic accident, shared his story with The Guardian. Years ago, a holiday mishap changed his life. “I dived into the shallow end, banging my head and instantly damaging my spinal cord. It felt like air deflating out of a balloon. I couldn’t move my arms and everything went white,” he recalled.

Keep ReadingShow less
fart walking, post-meal walk, digestion, gas relief, blood sugar, type 2 diabetes, after-dinner stroll, la passeggiata, shatapawali, gut health, light exercise, health trends, microbiome, viral trend, swearing benefits, nose picking, saliva cleaning, dental health, amylase enzyme, mucus

Going on a slow "fart walk" after dinner provides several health benefits.

Photo credit: Canva

Doctors say the ‘fart walk’ trend could help you live longer

When cookbook author and influencer Marilyn Smith discussed “fart walking” on her Instagram, she couldn’t have expected the concept to blow up as it did. Social media is abound with several posts with, "#fartwalk join in on the trend of taking a walk after dinner in order to better release intestinal gas and aid in digestion." While this crude method is a jokey trend, doctors are saying that fart walking can actually improve your life.

According to Dr. Tim Tiutan, an internal medicine physician at New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, fart walking does more than just help you better digest your meals. In an Instagram reel, Dr. Tiutan states that going on a five to ten-minute walk after eating can help prevent blood sugar from spiking, thus lowering the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025