One of the most demanding of the communications arts is the light-hearted subway advertisement. Striking the right tone to stand out amid the competition is no easy task.
The ad campaign by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism is running on at least one out of four subway cars in the city and is potentially in view of as many as five million subway riders. It is standing out, but not necessarily because it’s getting people onto planes.
Under the heading “Instant Escape No. 1: How to Turn a Subway Seat into a Hammock,” one advertisement seems to encourage riders to hog subway seats as if resting in a hammock.
Another ad seems to encourage riders to imitate fishing in the Caribbean by snagging subway track detritus by putting something sticky on a cellphone and attaching it to a scarf. It’s called “Instant Escape No. 2: How to Fly Fish with a Scarf and a Cell Phone.”
The ads seem to contradict the official rules of conduct of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which say hands-off trash on the track and no hogging of seats.
Some straphangers have criticized the campaign in blogs. A comment from David Yockelson, 41, an investment banker from Rye Brook, N.Y., was typical.
“Possibly the most stupid and flagrant ad was this one, which laughingly suggests that travelers attach their cellphones to their scarves with tape, put more tape on the cellphone, and then cast the scarf-phone-fishing pole into the tracks and see what they can find,” he wrote.
Mr. Yockelson added, “There’s even a PICTURE of a nice stick figure casting his scarf onto the tracks in the face of what very much seems to be an oncoming train!”
In a telephone interview, Mr. Yockelson elaborated, “I know they’re not irresponsible because they’re done in jest, but it was interesting that they’d be so bold about it.”
For those with long memories, such ad contretemps are reminiscent of the dust-up last July over a campaign for Mitchum deodorant that seemed to condone fare beating.
And in November 2004, to the M.T.A.’s embarrassment, a subway ad for a hip-hop clothing designer slipped in teen argot for oral sex (“get brain”).
An M.T.A. spokesman did not return calls yesterday about the ads for the Bahamas.
In July, Tom Kelly, a spokesman for the M.T.A., said about the Mitchum campaign: “We were not aware of the wording of the advertising, because Viacom, the agent that sells it, did not call it to our attention. We’ve spoken to them about it and it will not happen again.”
For its part, CBS Outdoor, formerly Viacom Outdoor, which distributes advertising on the subway, said it was blindsided by the tourism ads and will remove the hammock and the fly-fishing ads.
“Two of their executions do advocate behavior that is clearly unsafe, and we have organized to have those removed and replaced with more appropriate Bahamas copy,” said Jodi Senese, a CBS Outdoor spokeswoman.
Ms. Senese said the Bahamas subway campaign slipped under the radar because, in general, tourism ads do not come under the same kind of scrutiny as radio station or liquor company ads.
“We don’t act as censors, but clearly if an ad advocates something that compromises the safety of the community,” Ms. Senese said, “we will not post or in fact act to remove the said ad copy.”
Rosemary Abendroth, a spokeswoman for Fallon Advertising, the Minneapolis agency that developed the campaign, defended the ads saying, “You have to admit, it’s great stuff.”
Perhaps, but judging by one man in his 20’s who was surrounded yesterday by Bahamas ads on a southbound A train for 15 subway stops, the campaign’s effectiveness may be open to question.
Had he seen the Bahamas ads, he was asked. “Bahamas, what Bahamas?” he asked.
By ANTHONY RAMIREZ, NY Times
