Creative Companies Battle It Out With Post-It Note Window Displays In SoHo

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There's a battle raging between occupants of two buildings in SoHo.

But this is a friendly fight between employees of different creative and media companies and their weapons are Post-it notes. Their creations have people talking on the street and online, CBS2's Elise Finch reported.

It all started with the word "Hi." Last week, someone used Post-it notes to spell the word on their office window. Shortly after that, someone across the street responded and that simple exchange lead to windows full of Post-it note artwork.

"We'll see somebody do something and go, 'Oh, we can do better,' because you know there are a lot of creative types in both places, so you know they want to one up each other, so it's like back-and-forth like that," Joe Stevens of Heartbeat Ideas said.

The Bat-Signal, Spiderman, and even the Simpsons are represented in what's being called the "Post-it Wars" or simply "Canal Notes." Passersby stop to look, take pictures, and admire the creations.

"I think the flamingo is very creative up there," Melanio Lopez, who works in the area, told CBS2.

Lisha Kapish works in one of the buildings and has been documenting the evolving images on her Twitter page.

"It's been really fun to watch it progress every day with new stuff coming up and it gets bigger and better," Kapish said.

Laura Maness is the president of Havas Village New York. The global advertising company that occupies most of the building is where the "Post-it War" started. She said her employees are given down-time to participate.

"This is a way to sort of have some fun, I think, and it brings levity to what can be some pretty intense client business challenges," she said.

In an industry where using cutting edge technology is the norm, it's not lost on anyone that this creative arts war uses no technology at all.

"Artists expressing themselves the way they do, being inventive and trying to communicate. Everything is so digital these days, so it's kind of funny that's it's a non-digital thing," Joseph D'Esposito of Havas Village said.

The Post-it note wars continue as some companies are even taking suggestions as to what put on their windows next.

The company that makes Post-it notes is fueling the fight by sending boxes of the iconic not to several offices to keep the creative war going.