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Subway Advertising Gets Moving

2006_05_submedia.jpgIf subway train cars can get wrapped in ads, why not the subway tunnels? At least, that's what the MTA is thinking, as the agency test moving advertisements along tunnel walls. The ads, whose technology the MTA says "is amazing," may be tested this summer, and one provider of the technology is Sub-Media, whose placements have been on the PATH (you PATH riders get all the new technology first!). ANIMAL new york had looked at the technology a couple years ago and has a good explanation (and links, like this video) of the technology, which uses light to illuminate a series of still photographs that seem animated from a moving train car (think of a zoetrope or even a flipbook). While Gothamist supports any idea that will give help the MTA not raise fares, we're curious how long service will be disrupted in order to install the technology. Hey, maybe that's why the train service is messed on the weekend!

Do you think the subways are at risk of having too much advertising? Or does it not matter? The Daily News says that MTA is also considering "Projecting silent ads onto walls behind subway tracks that bored riders stare at while waiting on platforms" and "Illuminating the poster ads on the sides of buses at night to reel in the attention of pedestrians." Well, let's hope the ads aren't too distracting for pedestrians.

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Comments [rss]

  • C. LeDuc

    How much is this going to cost companies to advertise and where will the money go?

  • JT

    The art that ethos mentioned was nice -- and it was around in the 1980s too. I remember being on the train as some little kid saw it and he said "ooooo, I liiiike it." Very cute.

    Advertisements -- not so cute.

  • I recall seeing something like this on PATH which I didn't like.

    Why must there be ads everywhere.

    Interlard, maps can come in handy, especially when the system goes to hell and you need to figure out your options on a line you don't normally take. Most people know the subway line or lines they take on a regular basis (or at least the part they ride). Hell, I still sometimes think that the Q still runs over the 6th Avenue IND sometimes and goes to Queens - something it hasn't done in a couple of years.

  • Samantha T

    While the average MTA subway line is superior to its T counterpart, I maintain that the Red Line is Boston is as good as the best MTA lines. Also, Boston has a pretty decent bus system, if you're stuck dealing with the dreaded B line (if I recall, the D isn't so bad).

  • s

    hahahahah "charm"; what good does charm do you when you're all the way out in brighton and you need to get downtown? basically, youre screwed if you take the T, you can walk faster than that damn thing, and in boston, you cant hail cabs on the street. backwards backwater town that it is, you either need to give yourself an extar hour to account for the antique "charm" of the train, or call for a cab and pray that it actually comes to get you when you need it, knowing you will shell out about twice what the same distance covered would cost here. i am SO GLAD i dont live there anymore.

  • Interlard

    Never mind more advertising, perhaps the money raised could be used to buy a couple more FREAKIN' MAPS to stick in the subway cars??

    2 maps per car is BEYOND THIRD WORLD. Every other subway system on the planet has little horizontal maps showing which stops the train goes to, that you can see from every seat, EXCEPT NEW YORK.

    Maps aren't just for tourists. I live here and I haven't memorized where EVERY SINGLE NYC subway lines goes. So instead I have to carry a set of maps AT ALL TIMES. Which are out of date every 6 months anyway because MTA keeps re-routing the trains.

    MAP. Do you hear me, MYA?? M A P!!!!

  • ah yes, nothing like a divergence of discussion to boston T-bashing; before i clicked the comments i knew someone would bring up the existence of these ads in the T, yet i wasn't ready for the onslaught of boston hate. the charm of boston is that if you live there, you know to either take the bus, walk, or ride a bike. leave the T to the tourists who are dumb enough to use it.

  • Jeebus

    I remember getting off the plane at Logan and looking for the Silver Line. Of course I thought this was an actual train since it looked like it fit in so nicely on the T Map. When I got outside, low and behold it was a fuckin long ass bus with electric trolley-wire on top. The bus even had its own tunnels underground only it was allowed to go through, like a wannabe train with wheels.

    Like what the fuck is this supposed to be??? If you can't afford a god damn train don’t buy a freaking BUS and name it a line.

  • mike

    WOW, i remember seeing this when i was a really young, (keep in mind i'm only 22 now) but i tried googleing and searching for this for years, my parents thought it was jsut my imagination... i knew i seen this before!... i vaguely remember it being a cartoon with someone pouring a bowl of ceral or something... it was between pacific and grand street. on the B line (now the D)

    Anyway .. finally i can put this thought to rest!

  • joe

    It's true, the Green Line in Boston is really ridiculously bad.

  • MH

    The Path Train has this. I saw an advetisement for SNAPPLE. I thought that I was seeing things. In reality, people who ride the trains should be shown ads that make them want to save money not spend it.

  • Wow... Boston stereotypes sure are funny.

    Anyway, I lived in Boston while the ads were up on the Red Line; they're unobtrusive and kind of cool, although they chose things that didn't animate well at all -- the Target ad with the floating bullseyes, in particular, just made everyone dizzy.

    It's *really* only annoying because in Boston, they installed the ads at night. Get ready for even more track work!

  • nick

    el dipshit:

    YES! i'd like to see the young one struggling to stay on top of the pile of money in motion, not just one still picture.

  • miss

    getting on the 42nd st. shuttle train this morning.. i was kinda LOVING it... the entire interior is covered with large images of cities to travel to... it's by Delta and makes you want to hop on a plane and fly far far away....

    made me happy.

  • el dipshit

    I would like to see way more of those Spanish DJs who give away money.

  • Paddy

    But I like the darkness of the subways.

  • hr

    any comparisions between the "T" and the nyc system is silly. stupid turtle line and those wicked retahded trolleys ... ding ding ... hey this is some wicked pissah pahty you got goin on sully.

    yuch

  • The ads in the subway cars give us something to stare at so that you don't get stabbed by the homeless-psychopath sitting across from you.

    I think it's creative and fun, and I agree with the comment about helping the MTA avoid fare hikes [even though NYers have it better than most major urban commuters cost-wise].

    The real opposition to media "bombardment" will come when interactive screens displaying ads make their way inside the newest set of subway cars [ordered and expo'd last year].

  • joe

    I've seen these in Boston, they are actually pretty fun to watch, it's kind of like watching a flipbook.

  • lc

    The "animated" ads in the subway tunnels in Hong Kong are kind of fun to watch. I just wish they get changed more frequently.

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