Officials responsible for erecting two Bahamas tourism advertisements in New York subway cars took them down after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) sided with bloggers who suggested that they were inappropriate.
One of a series of advertisements by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism urging New York City subway riders to pretend they’re on vacation by fly fishing for trash on the tracks by putting something sticky on a cell phone and attaching it to a scarf, is seen in this photograph, in New York, Wednesday Feb. 1, 2006. Officials are axing the advertisements because the activities suggested in the ads are forbidden by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s official rules.
The ads got widespread publicity yesterday in a New York Times article which said the ads seem to contradict the official rules of conduct of the MTA, which calls for a certain conduct, including no hogging of seats.
The ads are a part of a wider advertising campaign designed to encourage New Yorkers to escape from a life of stress and cold weather to relaxation and warmth.
One of the ads in question tells riders “how to turn a subway seat into a hammock”. Another instructs passengers how to create a fishing pole by putting something sticky on a cell phone and attaching it to a scarf.
A blogger criticizing the bone fishing ad reportedly suggested that it was a “stupid and flagrant ad” because it encouraged passengers to cast their makeshift fishing pole into the tracks and see what they can fine.
Rosemary Abendroth, a spokesman for Fallon Advertising which created the ads, stressed on Wednesday that only two of the 80 ads that are part of the campaign created concern for a small group of people.
Ms. Abendroth said she believes that the number of people who find the ads questionable or inappropriate is small.
“We have so many people, from bloggers to inquiries from our website that say ‘what a fantastic campaign; I can’t wait to go to The Bahamas’,” she said. “It’s been an amazingly successful campaign for The Bahamas, but of course we want to respond and be responsible to the New York Transit Authority and if they deem something as possibly inappropriate to even a couple of people [we would respond].”
Ms. Abendroth recognized that in this age, the subway system is “very sensitive” to behaviour at stations.
Last May, Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe told The Bahama Journal during a viewing of the subway ads in New York (not the ones in question) that the campaign had been extremely successful.
“It fits into our approach of doing things differently,” Mr. Wilchcombe had said, “creating new experiences and reaching more people. Very clearly the clutter demands that you find new ways to get your message out and this is a new way to get our message out.”
Tourism officials said at the time that the ads were costing The Bahamas approximately $700,000.
They expected that the campaign would immediately translate into increased tourism figures for The Bahamas, which in 2004 passed the five-million mark.
Ms. Abendroth said she believes that what some may consider negative publicity for The Bahamas will actually end up increasing the numbers of New Yorkers heading to chain of islands for vacation.
“The idea is we get people to relax in a very stressful city at a cold time of the year and I think we’re actually bringing more attention to The Bahamas through this,” she said. “Sometimes a little spark of controversy might actually get more people coming to visit.”
The Ministry of Tourism said in a statement that the panels in question use humor to encourage New Yorkers to practice vacation activities.
The statement said that ironically, only the night before the New York Times article appeared, The Bahamas ad campaign received one of the highest honours for advertising in the travel and hospitality industry.
“It is important to note that all advertising was submitted and approved by both the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Viacom (the company that actually places the ads in the subways) prior to the placement of the subways and at Pennsylvania Station,” the statement added.
The Ministry also said The New York Times failed to reference the fact that two individuals also in these blogs actually admitted that they found The Bahamas’ ads to be so cool that they removed them from the subway cars and took them home.
“The colourful campaign [which] encourages New Yorkers to “Escape Everyday Life” and come to the Islands of The Bahamas is yet in the early stages of deployment and will remain in Pennsylvania Station, through which more than 300,000 people commute every day,” the statement said.
“The campaign will dominate the entire station, hundreds of subway cars and city buses. The New York subway carries five million people each day and up to one billion people each year.”
The Ministry also noted in its statement that blogging is based on the opinion of individuals who can post their unfiltered views on an internet site.
“It is not edited in any way and it is not part of a mainstream publication,” the statement said.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
