Second Ave. Sagas

Transit’s first ad-wrapped car debuts along the 6

Written by

Benjamin Kabak

in

While most Straphangers were busy adjusting to life in the post-service cuts era this morning, some along the 6 line probably did a double-take when their regular train pulled into the station. Transit this morning debuted its first ad-wrapped non-Shuttle subway train along the popular Lexington Ave. IRT local route.

The ad campaign is for Target, and it promotes the discount retailer’s new store. Initially, Transit had said that the fully-wrapped subway car generates $250,000 in advertising revenue over six weeks. The authority later said that this figure was incorrect. At that rate, Target would be paying just under $42,000 per week.

Transit says it took two work crews three days to complete the wrapping, and the process required the help of computer imaging software. At first, the sight of such an obvious ad is a bit glaring, but why shouldn’t the MTA be milking as much money as it can out of its pristine advertising surfaces?

After the jump, a pair of views of this train car. All images come courtesy of NYCTSubwayScoop on Twitter.

Comments

28 responses to “Transit’s first ad-wrapped car debuts along the 6”

  1. anon

    check the twitter page….now it looks like they “don’t know how much the train is generating yet.” hmmmmmmm…..looks like it a press release designed to distract from the service cuts.

    Reply
  2. Dela G

    that looks pretty badass

    Reply
    1. zyenbicsku

      FDIV8c ikasvylgjoly

      Reply
  3. Think twice

    About freakin’ time! Such a no brainer, yet it’s like pulling teeth with the at the TA.

    Reply
  4. rhywun

    This is “good” advertising – it doesn’t appear to annoy its targeted audience or lessen the utility of the service in any way.

    Reply
  5. aestrivex

    i’m all for it. i can already hear complaints about the advertisements being unsightly, but in truth this is nothing but a creative opportunity to help narrow a miniscule portion of the MTA’s severe budget problems.

    Reply
  6. pea-jay

    Wow the first wrap-ads for NYC…

    I remember riding the S-Bahn in Hamburg in 1990 and Chicago in the late 90s when those transit systems both started the wrap-ads. What took so long?

    Reply
    1. rhywun

      You must be new around here 🙂

      The MTA is 20 or more years behind the times in almost every conceivable way.

      Reply
  7. SEAN

    The whole rail fleet should be rapped to generate ad dollars. If successful, then move to the busses to do the same. Some dubble decker busses in Las Vegas on the Strip are rapped & are quite the eye catcher when they pull up.

    It has been illegal in Westchester to have bee-line busses rapped for a few years now. What a pitty.

    Reply
    1. rhywun

      I totally agree – and I actually hate ads for their tendency to be in my face, especially on TV and the Internet. But these are perfectly OK. Now, when the MTA eventually installs a couple dozen TV monitors down each car blasting commercials, THEN I’ll complain.

      Reply
      1. John

        Better that they use the money generated from those TV ads to keep that train running than to cancel that train because they didn’t have enough money.
        Speaking of which, didn’t PATH install TV monitors on its subway cars?

        Reply
        1. rhywun

          But advertising doesn’t seem to raise very much money, relative to other strategies such as fare increases or job cuts. But if it does come to that, give me a choice to pay a surcharge for an ad-free car 🙂

          Reply
      2. Think twice

        “…when the MTA eventually installs a couple dozen TV monitors…”

        Or they can replace all the paper advertisement slots/holders with row after row of LCD screens.

        Reply
  8. Raketenblog » New Yorker Subway jetzt mit Aussenwerbung

    […] Gestern lies die New Yorker MTA den ersten Zug mit vollflächiger Außenwerbung für Target auf der Linie 6 fahren. Mehr Infos auf 2nd Ave Sagas. […]

    Reply
  9. Jeff

    Let’s think of some of the root causes of these service cuts.

    1. Self-entitled motorists who make it politically unfeasible to implement congestion charging and/or bridge tolls. I assume they will endure similar humiliation, having their automobiles wrapped in advertising?

    2. Our elected officials up in Albany who siphoned away dedicate transit taxes. Logically, the statehouse will similarly be made into a joke by wrapping it in advertising?

    I just find it difficult to understand why people are complacent with giving up a little bit of our dignity to pick up the slack due to forces imposed on us as transit users from external sources. The “answer” to raising revenue should never be selling away something that is such an integral part of the culture of our city, such as our transit system.

    I can’t even go to the Mets’ stadium anymore without being reminded how much of a piece of scum I, a citizen of New York City, am compared to the interests of corporate America. Now I can’t even take the train anymore?

    Can we PLEASE have our dignity back, Albany?

    Reply
    1. Sharon

      “1. Self-entitled motorists who make it politically unfeasible to implement congestion charging and/or bridge tolls. I assume they will endure similar humiliation, having their automobiles wrapped in advertising?”
      You could not be more wrong on this issue.
      Motorist already pay a small fortune in taxes (tolls, gas, registrations etc) that has just lead to huge salaries and benefit for transit workers. More money will mean the twu will want their piece of the pie negating any potential benefit.

      The mta was formed to take tolls dollars form tri borough bridge and tunnel authority bridges and tunnels(mta brige)to subsidize mass transit. Add more money into the equation and you just drive up operating costs and foolish spending(think free rides at chistmas).

      Since the merger in 1968 the unions and politicians have used these toll dollars for their political purposes. Unions got raises and backwards work rules including
      1) keeping tokens around for nearly 7 years after 100% metrocard adoption to protect station agents.

      2)Keeping conductors on all trains and not allowing more frequent service overnght using OPTO and shorter trains. the R68 and R62 train class purchased between 1982-1990 had full width caps to utilize OPTO
      3) The unions refusal to maintain equipment that would have solved the problems with gps based bus management in the early 1990’s costing hundred of millions. We have rampant bus bunching and hundreds of dispatchers who stand on the corner writing down what time buses passes.
      4)Lirr and MNRR run as two separate operations

      The union has no pressure to negotiate in good faith to run a transit system for the best interest of the riders. They know arbitrators will side with them. Read the arbitrators report on the latest contract. It states that the mta should raise salaries and pay out 20% more in health care due to the fact that the can raose fares. More money just means more money wasted.

      Some people on this board do not realize there is a whole world outside of manahttan and brownstone brooklyn in the 5 bouroughs that is laid out as simi-suburban. Where I live i must drive to have a decent life. The nearest Rite Aid is a 10 min walk. The nearest bus line is 4 long blocks away and does not go where I need to go. The Varazanno Bride is now $11 for cars and $22 for most trucks. MTa police officers got huge raise
      It is the salaries benefits that are killing the mta not more tax dollars
      $58k+benefits for station agents vs a market rate for the same job of $25k with no benefits
      $44k for cleaners vs market rate of $10-$12 with no benefits real world.
      $100k plus workers all over the place

      Reply
      1. Benjamin Kabak

        Some people on this board do not realize there is a whole world outside of manahttan and brownstone brooklyn in the 5 bouroughs that is laid out as simi-suburban.

        You’re overstating your case significantly here. Very little of the city is semi-suburban, and the vast majority of New Yorkers are within a half a mile of the nearest subway. Some very isolated areas aren’t well served by transit, but those are wealthier areas.

        The simple truth is that, going into the Manhattan central business district are nearly 4 million subway riders a day and fewer than 685,000 cars. Far more people and businesses would suffer with subpar and expensive subway service than with congestion pricing.

        Reply
  10. Michael Keit

    It is not the first ad-wrapped subway car. The Times Sq/Grand Central shuttle has had several-Uniqlo, History Channel, etc.

    Reply
    1. Benjamin Kabak

      As I said in the second sentence of the post itself, “Transit this morning debuted its first ad-wrapped non-Shuttle subway train along the popular Lexington Ave. IRT local route.” I know fully well that the Shuttle’s had these wraps for a few years now.

      Reply
  11. BrooklynBus

    That’s not the type of wrap I was expecting. Looks too much like grafitti.

    Reply
  12. Luke

    When will they advertise for subway sandwich shops?

    Reply
    1. Kathleen

      Aren’t they kind of always?

      Reply
  13. Sound Glitter » Blog Archive » Target Ads on the 6 Train.

    […] increase service and cut prices. Wishful thinking. To learn more about the subway ads, check out Second Avenue Sagas. var a2a_config = a2a_config || {}; a2a_config.linkname="Target Ads on the 6 Train."; […]

    Reply
  14. photoballads

    I LOve it. It pulled up this morning, and it made my day! It isn’t tacky, or obnoxious, it is so adorable. It made me wish the subways were red again. Well done, Target! I’d rather see nice visuals of ads being utilized on such an appropriate canvas, rather being bombarded with it in ugly billboards all over our city!

    Reply
  15. steve

    –Initially, Transit had said that the fully-wrapped subway car generates $250,000 in advertising revenue over six weeks. The authority later said that this figure was incorrect. At that rate, Target would be paying just under $42,000 per week.

    …for a total of 250,000 over six weeks

    cool tho.

    Reply
    1. Sharon

      Lets hope the consolidated PR department will actually know what they are talking about.
      Advertising done right can be a big money maker for the mta. Install lcd tv’s in trains/stations and broadcast ads and tv programs. Have multiple screens. Riders who want to hear the audio tune into a particular fm station just as many gyms have it set up.

      At station entrances install customer service screens to replace station agents which both shows ads and the face of the person monitoring the station area. there are plenty of eyeballs that can be monitized.

      Reply
  16. Shuttle cars now featuring video advertising :: Second Ave. Sagas

    […] wrapping has become de rigueur lately, and in fact, the 6 recently received a wrapped car of its own. The video screens, however, mark the first time that moving images have been used for the purposes […]

    Reply
  17. Interviewing Jay Walder: Labor relations and revenue sources :: Second Ave. Sagas

    […] are much more valuable to us if we can find a way to do that. The wrap that we did — the Target wrap — was terrific. There are lots of things you’re seeing this year that are breaking down […]

    Reply

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