Photo by Benjamin Kabak
When: June 15, 2011
Where: The staircase leading up from the Shuttle platform to the entryway to Grand Central Terminal at 42nd St.
I found myself last week walking past the Shuttle platform after entering the subway on 42nd St. and Madison Ave. As I neared the walkway to the IRT complex, I spied these in-staircase advertisements on the steps leading up from the Shuttle platform. As an orange juice connoisseur, I thoroughly enjoyed the subject matter, but what struck me even more so was the presentation of the advertising. I believe this is the first time the MTA has placed a billboard ad inside a staircase.
The ad, on display just a few yards from a train wrapped in a promotional campaign for Lady Gaga’s latest album, works best from a distance. As harried straphangers approach the staircases, the ad comes into view, and Simply Orange is on display for everyone to see. This presentation too is appropriate only for stations that have expansive views and staircases. It wouldn’t work at, say, the 79th St. entrance along the 1 train because those exiting the station never see the staircase from a distance.
As we know, the MTA is trying to eke as many advertising dollars as possible out of the subway system, and the 42nd St. corridor is the ideal location for it. Grand Central is the system’s second busiest subway station, and commuters bound for Midtown office buildings filter through the Shuttle station. This isn’t the first advertisement to adorn the staircase, and we’ll have to see where else these types of ads end up. For now, I’m a fan of the presentation even as advertising becomes more pervasive throughout the system.
8 comments
Hey, if you go to Penn Station at the 7th avenue entrance, the two level staircase is almost always highlighted with an ad like this – as of last night, it had a large ad for Green Lantern.
And if you go to any other subway station outside of Midtown, the stairs are filthy messes, with cracked concrete, missing tiles and some form of pissy smell on them. Well played, MTA!
I noticed this yesterday & thaught how clever, an ad rapped stairwell. There’s also a rapped shuttle train feachureing HP advertising inside & out, with apple red bench seating.
I personally do not see the value in the this to the company, but if the MTA can sell it, I’m all for it.
Maybe all the yellow liquid on many subway staircases prompted the orange juice folks into fooling riders and make us think about orange juice instead of piss.
I personally would like to see a bottled water ad on platforms and stairs that says something like “the only water this platform/staircase will ever see is Poland Spring” since the MTA doesn’t seem to wash away any of the filthy piss smell on platforms.
There have been similar ads (both presentation and product) at Union Square for quite some time now (the exit that includes escalators and is integrated into the building at the NE corner of 14th St and 4th Ave/Park Ave S).
Home Depot should buy an ad on the big staircase coming up from the Chambers Street station on the J/Z saying something like “Don’t wait until it’s too late to renovate”.
LOL