Subway Advertising

For the next eight weeks, East Side riders can catch the Swatch-wrapped 6 train. (Photo courtesy of New York City Transit)

Take a look at this 6 train. It’s the latest and greatest from the MTA’s advertising department. For the next eight weeks, as part of the authority’s attempts to draw in more advertising revenue, this 6 train will be fully wrapped in Swatch ads. On the heels of last year’s Target campaign, this is the second such fully-wrapped train.

“The MTA earns more than $100 million per year from sales of advertising space, mostly through traditional print media, but we continue to map out new ways to maximize the value of our physical assets,” MTA Chairman Jay Walder said in a statement. “One way we are doing that is by creating more dynamic advertising opportunities.”

To draw in more money, the MTA is also looking into 3D images and in-tunnel advertising. All of this advertising is a balm for hurt minds indeed.

Poetry has been noticeably absent from the subway of late.

For nearly two decades, placards of poetry greeted observant straphangers in various subway cars across New York City. While these bright spots of art and literature amidst the drabness of subway advertising proved popular, “Poetry in Motion” met its demise in 2008, and a similar program called “Train of Thought” replaced it. When the MTA rebranded its house ads, “Train of Thought” was axed, and New York’s literati were saddened.

Have hope though because the MTA may be searching for ways to restore poetry to the subway. Michael Grynbaum broke the news yesterday. The authority, he says, “has entered preliminary talks to revive Poetry in Motion.” He writes:

The transportation authority is discussing the matter with the Poetry Society of America, which helped coordinate the original “Poetry in Motion” campaign from its inception in 1992. The series, modeled on a similar program on the London Underground, brought Yeats and Browning into the unusual locale of a gritty subway train, peppering the usual Dr. Zizmor ads with classics of literary verse.

“Walder really loves the poetry; I wouldn’t be surprised to see it come back,” said an official at the transportation authority who is familiar with the plans, referring to the authority’s chairman, Jay H. Walder. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about discussions that were intended to be private.

The Poetry Society is said to be seeking a financial sponsor for the campaign, which would be a prerequisite. Officers at the society declined to comment.

If the poetry makes the subways seem friendlier, I’m all for it. Spotting a verse or two in the trains always brought a smile to my face. Even if the verses aren’t quite as out there as some, the return of “Poetry in Motion” would be welcome indeed.

As the cash-starved MTA looks to milk dollars out of its existing physical plant, the authority may soon begin running moving ads inside its subway tunnels, WNYC’s Jim O’Grady reported this morning. The authority, says O’Grady, has been receiving bids from companies looking to run these ads and believes these ads will help boost its ad revenue. “Anywhere there’s a dark tunnel, you could do it,” authority spokesman Aaron Donovan said said.

O’Grady has more on the latest push to find non-tax sources for dollars:

The tunnel ads would show a string of varied images that, when viewed from a passing train, would move like a flip book. A similar effect is visible in a subway artwork called Masstransiscope between the Manhattan Bridge and the DeKalb Avenue station in Brooklyn. As the D train glides by an unused station at Myrtle Avenue, painted images flash behind vertical slits and appear to be animated.

Donovan said most ideas for non-traditional ad placement come from advertisers themselves. In recent years, the MTA has permitted video on the outside of buses and ads that wrap entire train cars, like the 6 train that became a long rolling ad for Target last fall, when the company opened a store on 116th Street in Harlem.

Then there is a program called “station domination,” in which a single company plasters ads on multiple surfaces — columns, stairwells, turnstiles — throughout a subway station. Ads at Union Square Station have even been projected onto floors and walls. And now the MTA website displays ads for free credit checks and the Crate & Barrel wedding registry.

Over the past few years, the MTA has seen a marked increase in advertising revenue. Despite a recession that has hit the advertising industry particularly hard, the authority drew in $109 million annually in 2009 and 2010 and has seen that total annual take increase from $27 million just 20 years ago. The authority is hoping to realize $120 million in sales this year.

These days, ads are everywhere underground. From branded stations to fully wrapped train cars, we see commercial space throughout the system, and the in-tunnel ads will be just another source of revenue upon which transit agencies throughout the world have long relied. For a few dollars more, I’ll take it.

Jorge Posada's likeness greets straphangers on the 42nd St. Shuttle. The wrapping and video screens are part of the MTA's increased push for more advertising dollars. (Photo by Lorenzo Bevilaqua/TBS)

The 42nd St. Shuttle now features in-car video advertising. (Photo via MTA)

The MTA’s fleet of shiny new R160s all come equipped with video screens on the FIND displays. Originally intended to show a rotating mix of MTA announcements and advertisements, these screens have served only as self-promotional vehicles for New York City Transit. This week, though, the MTA announced the introduction of video advertising to its favorite marketing guinea pig, the 42nd St. shuttle.

As part of an effort to milk every last dollar out of potential advertising opportunities, the MTA in conjunction with TBS and Major League Baseball unveiled 10-inch video screens in a fully-wrapped shuttle car that allow TBS to air its ads, sound-free. While the authority declined to reveal how much TBS had paid for the video screens as well as a fully wrapped shuttle train complete with seats resembling those found at a baseball stadium, the authority drew in over $127 million in ad revenue last year. That total is up from nearly $89 million in 2004, and the authority has only begun to tap into its branding potential.

“The MTA earns more than $100 million per year from sales of advertising space, mostly through traditional print media, but this traditional advertising has suffered as a result of the recession,” MTA Chairman Jay Walder said in a statement. “Our uncertain finances mean that we have to think creatively to maximize the value of our physical assets. One way we are doing that is by creating more dynamic advertising opportunities.”

TBS and Major League Baseball have branded one of the 42nd St. Shuttles in anticipation of the upcoming baseball playoffs. Mariano Rivera presides over subway benches made to resemble stadium seats. (Photo by Lorenzo Bevilaquia/TBS)

Shuttle 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 of in-car marketing campaigns.“The MTA is creating new, dynamic advertising opportunities utilizing the latest technology to both increase ad revenue and communicate better with our customers,” Walder, in a buzzword-laden statement, said. “Inviting advertisers to “wrap” entire trains and the use of digital displays will generate a buzz among customers and advertisers alike.”

For the first few days, the in-car video screens will simply promote the upcoming baseball playoffs on TBS while star players — Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera from the Yankees; Cliff Lee from the Rangers — decorate the outside of the cars. Once the playoffs begin, however, TBS says the video ads will include highlights from the previous night’s games and “up-to-the-minute information” on match-ups to come. “As people are commuting home and making decisions on what to do with their evening, Turner will reach millions of potential viewers in a creative way with messages about the excitement of the Postseason,” MLB Vice President Tim Brosnan said.

While executives can spew on-message quotes, baseball fans are the ones who are latching onto the ads. “It’s too bad I can only take this train one stop,” Anthony Polini told The New York Times. “I’d do this in my room, but my wife wouldn’t let me.”

Of course, while New York City Transit is celebrating an advertising first for them, City Room reminds us that PATH had video ads installed in 2009, and subway systems in cities such as Boston, Buenos Aires and Madrid have used video screens for years. The MTA says the agency’s budget problems will lead to more ad opportunities. “Customers in a transit environment can expect increasing levels of sophistication in advertising,” Aaron Donovan, agency spokesman, said.

Advertising will now appear on the outside of LIRR train cars. (Photo via MTA)

The video screens on the shuttle — sans sound — aren’t the only new frontiers unveiled this week. The authority also set the first commuter trains with external display advertising on the rails. Fifty of the LIRR’s M7 cars are displaying ads along the bottom as many IRT subway cars do today. The ads, says the authority, are visible to those boarding at stations as well as drivers and pedestrians who pass the train. If this three-month trial is successful, the LIRR fleet may see an uptick an ads. The MTA, however, did not say by what measure “successful” will be judged.

Over the years, subway advertising, whose revenues were once called a balm for hurt minds, has become more intrusive. Moving images will do nothing to stop that forward march, and the MTA says it is going to explore 3-D images and in-tunnel advertising as well. As much as we may bemoan — or look forward to — the themed subway cars, the MTA’s economic situation demands it.

After the jump, a video describing the new advertising initiatives and a behind-the-scenes look at the way MTA crews wrapped the shuttle and prepared the new video screens.

In 2008, an alluring ad for vodka loomed over a staircase at Broadway/Lafayette. (Photo by flickr user Dom Dada)

Since day one, subway advertising has been controversial. Today, we argue over religious themes and offensive images, but back in the early days of the subway, potential straphangers were outraged that ads would be thrust upon them. The revenue, said Squire Vickers, could serve as “a balm for hurt minds.”

When news broke yesterday that the authority had approved an anti-mosque ad sponsored by a right-wing organization based out of New Hampshire, a mix of support and outrage developed. Some believed the ad should stand on grounds of free speech and tolerance; others were dismayed that a callous and wrong-headed message would see the light of day; still others support the message and the medium. The MTA, as Michael Grynbaum reports today, had very little say in the matter.

In a piece that delves into legal history without getting too technical, Grynbaum explores how the authority hasn’t had much success in turning down advertisements. It has tried to beef up its review powers, but every time a decision is challenged in court, the MTA loses. Grynbaum reports:

The authority adopted rules in 1997 that allowed transit officials to reject advertising they considered obscene, deceptive or “directly adverse to the commercial or administrative interests of the M.T.A.,” among other reasons. (The guidelines were prompted in part by complaints about a racy Calvin Klein underwear ad.)

But transit officials have faced legal challenges before, and in those challenges the authority tends to lose. New York magazine successfully sued the authority in 1997 after transit officials removed ads poking fun at Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, at the mayor’s request. (The Supreme Court rejected an appeal.)

An ad submitted by riders’ advocates in 2000, which compared the morning commute to a packed ride in a cattle car, was initially rejected because it might discourage people from riding the subway. Those objections were quickly dropped after the New York Civil Liberties Union brought a lawsuit claiming censorship.

In June, the authority removed a Georgi vodka ad featuring a swimsuit model from some city buses after complaints from Hasidic leaders in Brooklyn. “We try to limit more suggestive ads upon neighborhood request,” the authority said in a statement. This week, the executives of Georgi Vodka said they wondered why the twin towers image made the cut and their company’s bikini ad did not. “We didn’t feel they came to bat for us,” said Phyllis Valenti, executive vice president for Star Industries, which owns the vodka. But she said lawyers had advised the company not to sue.

The real issue with the MTA’s ability to review and ultimately reject ads is constitutional in its scope. The MTA is a government actor and thus cannot enact regulations that limit the freedom of speech we enjoy as a First Amendment right. Even though advertising doesn’t enjoy the same broad protections that other speech does, as long as the ad is not misleading or defamatory, the MTA must allow it to proceed. For nearly $10,000, Pamela Geller’s ad will stand.

MTA officials recognize the intractable position in which the law places them. Plus, in age of uncertain economics, the revenue is still a balm for hurt minds. “We do the best we can within our guidelines, with the understanding that in a lot of cases, we’ll have to put up ads that we may or may not agree with,” Jeremy Soffin said to The Times. “There will always be cases where people disagree…You have people who are purposely trying to be provocative, and sometimes, frankly, more interested in the publicity that comes with the conflict, as opposed to the benefit of actually running the ad.”

For the past few weeks, New York City has been embroiled in a political battle over an Islamic Community Center near Ground Zero that will include a mosque. The Cordoba Center, approved last week by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, will take over the buildings at 45-47 Park Place, just two blocks away from Ground Zero, and the building will be modeled to resembled a JCC or a YMCA but with a mosque. It has been nothing short of controversial.

While Mayor Bloomberg supported the building, various politicians from across the country — including a prominent one from the remote state of Alaska — spoke out against it on the grounds that it was insensitive to the survivors of Ground Zero. Why should Muslims be allowed to proclaim their faith, even peacefully, in the shadows of the buildings brought down by religious extremists nearly nine years ago? The debate grew so heated that Bloomberg lashed out at those attempting to graft their views onto New York. “A handful of people,” he said, “should be ashamed of themselves.”

Now, the controversy will arrive front and center on New York City buses. Last week, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a right-wing organization run by Pamela Geller, attempted to purchase ad space on MTA buses to run this ad, but the MTA declined, claiming that the ad violated its procedures. It didn’t issue a final ruling on the matter, and after Geller tried to tinker with the image, she filed suit against the MTA, alleging violations of her free speech.

Tonight, the MTA announced that it would accept the ad in its original form. “While the MTA does not endorse the views expressed in this or other ads that appear on the transit system,” spokesman Kevin Ortiz said in a statement, “the advertisement purchased by a group opposing a planned mosque near the World Trade Center was accepted today after its review under MTA’s advertising guidelines and governing legal standards.”

At her website, Geller proclaimed it a victory for her cause, but city representatives to the MTA had a different take on it. “The wonderful thing about our country is that people have a right to express themselves, as long as it doesn’t endanger anyone’s life,” John Banks said to The Times, “I support it, even though I disagree with it vehemently.”

For her part, Geller doesn’t seem to care if the imagery is hurtful to New Yorkers. “It’s part of American history,” she said. Who can argue with such logic?

From the start, the main issue over the mosque has been an attitude of fear and retribution vs. one of tolerance and acceptance, and the MTA has, by allowing this group to advertise, taken the side of the latter. Of course free speech should triumph in New York because free speech is one of the bedrock principles of the U.S. Constitution. But there’s a deeper question at play here: Does advertising on a bus even matter?

One of the challenges the MTA faces in selling ad space on a bus or train is one of inattention. We barely pay attention to subway ads today because they have become so ubiquitous, and every time a controversy crops up — whether it’s over a pro-atheism ad that few people even notice or some racy romance novel with a suggestive cover — transit riders ignore it. We hear the debate raging amongst the talking heads on TV and the shouters on talk radio. We see the consternation in our newspapers’ op-ed pages, and we know that a Sarah Palin and a Michael Bloomberg will square off on an issue that touches the lives of few in anything more than a symbolic way.

Yet, life goes on with transit. The MTA will make nearly $10,000 off of this ad, and most New Yorkers won’t even blink. As tasteless as the image might seen, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.

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.