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Taking the Geopolitical Fight Over Google Maps to the Street
Advocates for the Persian Gulf have taken their fight aboutGoogle's refusal to name the gulf between Iran and the Arab Gulf states on Google Maps to the streets of Los Angeles. NPR's Which Way, LA? blog has noticed the proliferation of pro-Persian Gulf billboards around Los Angeles, proclaiming "It is not the Gulf. It is the Persian Gulf". The tagline refers to the use by some media and cartographic entities to use the label "The Gulf" to refer to the area instead of the Persian Gulf.
The latest controversy was triggered when Iran launched an international protest in May of 2012, complaining about Google's lack of a name for the gulf. Justifying the lack of a label, an anonymous Google spokesman has stated, "It's just simply the case that we don't have a label for every body of water."
Los Angeles, which boasts the largest Persian population outside of Iran, has seen numerous billboards around the city arguing for the name of the Persian Gulf. While the post on Which Way, LA? states that the billboard advertising company Van Wagner has said that the purchaser of the Persian Gulf billboards wishes to remain anonymous. A thread on the Iran Sports Press forum discussed a rumor that the sponsor was a fashion designer by the name of Amir Bahador who is the proprietor of Amir Fashion based in Beverly Hills with a shop in the famed Beverly Hills Hotel. . Judging by the signature "Amir" in the lower left corner of the billboard, this would seem to be true.
What action these billboards are aiming for is unclear. Beyond the saying and the flag of Iran, no additional message or web site is shown.
Billboards have been seen in Downtown Los Angeles, Atwater Village, and near Larchmont Village.
