On July 14 the San Diego City Council’s Finance Committee unanimously voted to expand the city’s marketing program. The controversial proposal places advertisements on boardwalks, benches, trashcans, and even lifeguard towers along the city’s beaches. However nothing has been confirmed so far – the issue will be addressed later this fall by the entire city council.

California residents, increasingly affected by budget cuts, have begun searching for alternative methods of funding. Huntington Beach and Los Angeles County have already adopted the beach advertising program along their coastlines in reaction to the state’s excessive debt.

San Diegans have grown all too familiar with slashing their city’s budget to save money. The income generated by the ads along the beach should be a welcome change from this trend cutting funding to public services. Previous reductions in funding cut public safety services such as the fire department (known as the “San Diego brownouts”) and have begun to cause concern amongst San Diego citizens as they begin to wonder how far the budget can be trimmed before their safety is affected.

The city needs to be prepared for the future. With the possibility of Comic-Con moving to Anaheim looming on the horizon, something new will have to replace the potential loss in income to the city. If a replacement for that income cannot be found more budget cuts are sure to follow. With its 20 miles of sand and sun, San Diego’s coastline poses an enticing opportunity to companies looking to branch into new methods of advertising, companies who’s money could be just the stimuli needed to begin to revitalize the San Diego’s economy.

These companies will be drawn to the city’s shores like sharks that smell blood in the water and when they arrive the beach will be transformed for the benefit of the city. It sounds like a good idea financially, yet admirers of San Diego’s natural beauty hate the idea of ads plastered along the city’s best attraction.

Yes, families seeking a sandy day away at the beach will find it a little harder to escape the city’s subliminal messages. The beach will be framed by numerous advertisements, resembling gaudy sporting events. But with all the billboards, bus ads, and commercials constantly seeping into our collective subconscious, a few more marketing pitches along the shore shouldn’t send any San Diegan into shock. People will learn to tune out the new additions on trashcans and lifeguard towers with ease just as they learned to tune out these already prevalent advertising schemes. And those who are bothered can simply flip over and watch the waves.

The truth is that this process is essential and inevitable in a free market. Some schools in the county are even adopting the idea for their cafeterias; Sweetwater Union High School District, for instance, has agreed to place corporate advertisements on all its lunch tables.

Though the program will provide a lot of money for the city, it’s reasonable to be worried about exactly what companies will be promoted. Residents will accept the change if tastefully done, however “tastefully done” and advertising are two planes that seldom intersect. Hopefully the content of the ads will be less controversial than their presence at the beach.