User:Smokingloud/sandbox/Pointing Charles

= Pointing Charles = Pointing Charles is the name informally given to a lightbox sign installed in the Atlantic Terminal Mall of Brooklyn, New York. The sign depicts a pointing Charles Entertainment Cheese, the mascot of family restaurant chain Chuck E. Cheese, in order to direct foot traffic to the restaurant location on the mall's third level. It is known for being repeatedly stolen and vandalized, as well for as the large expense needed to maintain it.

History
Chuck E. Cheese has been an anchor tenant of Atlantic Terminal since the mall's opening in 2004 and the location is seen as strategically important to the chain's expansion into denser urban areas. During construction, company representatives were worried that many customers would overlook the mall's third story and sought approval to install additional signage; the original Pointing Charles was thus a one-of-one commission. The sign cost "eight, maybe nine hundred dollars" to fabricate and install, according to company executives.

The sign was left unperturbed until the morning of November 10th, 2008, when a mall security guard noticed a phallus spray-painted on an adjacent patch of wall. The nature of the sign made it appear as though the restaurant mascot was indicating towards the phallus; the graffiti was quickly painted over, but the sign was hijacked in a similar fashion multiple times. Photos of the vandalism circulated widely on internet forums, with many commenting on the quality of its depiction. In January 2009 the sign disappeared entirely, leading some commentators to suspect Chuck E. Cheese's corporate office had removed it willfully. A company spokesperson later clarified that the sign had been stolen, perhaps to be made into a collector's item.

A second Pointing Charles was commissioned and installed in the spring of 2009; no vandalism occurred for several months, but that October spray-painted phalluses appeared next to the sign on an almost nightly basis. An article in the Brooklyn Home Reporter described that "the most puzzling aspect of the situation is how: you'd need a ladder to get close to the sign, let alone paint such an enchanting mural beside it." When the sign was stolen a second time, executives at Chuck E. Cheese suspected the theft was an inside job perpetrated by mall management and threatened litigation. An agreement was eventually reached for the mall to hire additional security guards.

The sign was remanufactured and stolen more than half a dozen times in 2010. In a television interview Jay Hatzfield, chief operating officer of Chuck E. Cheese at the time, stated that "we refuse to let those (expletive) bandits win" and that the company would spend "whatever it took" for the sign to remain in place. Incidents of graffiti eventually decreased, though photos of the vandalized sign continued to circulate on the internet. A new version of the sign was unveiled after the company's mascot was redesigned to be "more friendly and sleek" in 2012. Most commentary on Pointing Charles is centered around whether its theft and vandalism could have been possible without insider help.