When I read Mobility Lab’s article about how pop culture impacts people’s transportation decisions, it felt like my birthday! A database of movies and television shows that include transit scenes? What a gift for the confirmed transit geek!
In fact, the article resonated with my efforts this past fall to find positive images, GIFs and graphics to promote transit in Denver’s Metro North area. While positive images exist, more still carry the stereotype of tired, dirty transit.
So imagine my joy when not one but two ads appeared during NFL prime time that normalized bus travel while selling sleek, high-end technology! Thanks to Apple’s iPad Pro “What’s a Computer” ad and Sprint’s ad for the Samsung Galaxy Note8 “Get Work Done Before Work”, transit is portrayed as the backdrop for imaginative, independent, city-savvy tweens and a trio of fun-loving millennials respectively. A breath of fresh air when compared to the negative portrayals I have seen of people “having to take the bus” before getting an auto loan.
We would love to hear from others about ads that include references to transit, good or bad, when not expressly selling transit services. Please fill out this Google Form with suggestions! (And make sure to share!)
(Editor’s note: Adforum is a great resource to find good ads.)
Social impact ad by Conservation International in Colombia.