My Budding Love Affair With Subway Ads
Cristina DiGiacomo, M.S.
Everyday Philosophy? | Chief AI Philosophy Officer C-Suite Network Technology Council? | Author "Wise Up! At Work" | 2x New York Times Publisher's Award
It started as a blip. Somehow, a subway ad got my attention in my sleepy insular subway commute. That blip was an ad for Oscar Insurance.
I've been riding the rails for 20 years. I've probably walked past incredible ads. I always took notice of amazing movie or theatre posters, but never an ad for a product or service. Maybe since I've tried to be more observant in general I started noticing. Or, could it be that the commercial subway ad has evolved, upped its game, providing the spectator with a dose of wit, a splash of sass, something akin to a lollipop on a cloudy day?
After that I started seeing them everywhere. The Manhattan Mini Storage ads that included a cross-dressing customer. Oscar did another series of illustrated characters in provocative but real situations (the guy with the camera in his underwear is my particular favorite). The Thinx campaign in its honesty and fearless feminist language. All of a sudden there is a whole world of clever messaging and imagery I'm excited about.
So now, I actively look out for it. I've been taking photos of cool subway ads and things that I stumble upon in my daily moving about. I think the bar has been set pretty high. In one transfer the other day, I saw the ad series for Conde Nast "CreativityIs" campaign and was slightly confused (video playback controls in print?) and underwhelmed. Perhaps the comparison was made more stark when I then stepped into a royal banquet room, replete with royal portraits, on the S train with an ad for the show Outlander.
I want to thank the brands and creatives who understand our low-grade melancholy that is the subway commute and giving us a cookie to get by. Trust me, if it's good, people will remember it.
Sales | Marketing | Advertising
8 年The StreetEasy campaign is also great.
Editor in Chief - SailZing.com
8 年I saw an amazing video of Steve Jobs in 1997 telling his team about his "Think Different" campaign by Chiat/Day. The campaign was incredibly powerful and broke through the noise. Put these subway campaigns side-by-side with "Think Different" and one could start to think that the subway ads take the easy way out through shock. It's the WWE RAW of ads (no offense intended). As the shock effect gets dulled, what's next? I'm not encouraging prudishness or ignorance. I'm encouraging truly thoughtful campaigns that elevate brands.
“The more we attempt to persuade people, the more they tend to resist us. But the more we attempt to understand them and create value for them, the more they tend to persuade themselves.” Ron Willingham
8 年"How do they get the caramilk in the Caramilk bar" classic subway ad
Senior Marketing Content Manager at Roots Automation
8 年Let's start a transit advertising achievement awards program and call them "The Zizmores!"