Awareness, Opinion, Transit Oriented Video

Metro Puts A Boob On The Tube

Contributed by Fred Camino on October 26th, 2007 at 9:50 am

[tags]metro, los angeles, commercial, advertising, television spot[/tags]


Your new Metro spokesperson.

Metro has recently created six television spots to further promote their burgeoning transit system and attract new riders. These spots feature a rather stocky balding man (some might refer to his demeanor as “douchey”) interviewing MetroRiders from all walks of life about why they “Go Metro”. The spots are well produced, and although the interviewer is annoying at best, I find the spots effective in presenting Metro as an attractive alternative to driving. Will the ads help boost ridership? That remains to be seen, but I’m a big believer in the power of advertising to influence the masses. I think just seeing a well-produced commercial on TV will legitimize Metro for some people

Has anyone seen these on television yet? What do you think about the ads?

Links to each individual spot after the jump…

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Discussion

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There are 6 Responses to “Metro Puts A Boob On The Tube”:

  1. What’s next? “Go Welfare” spots from Dept of Social Services?

    We lose money on every customer and our products are often overcrowded. That’s why we are spending taxpayer dollars to attact more losses and more overcrowding.

    Comment by Rob Dawg on October 26th, 2007 at 11:14 am »Reply« resta suma

  2. The purpose of public transit isn’t completely a business model, but providing transportaion options within certain limits. It is short sighted to talk of “losses” etc.

    I hate these ads. The interviewer is too clownish. Come across as a bit too desperate.

    Comment by Dana Gabbard on October 26th, 2007 at 2:27 pm »Reply« resta suma

  3. The spots aren’t bad. The on-camera guy is a likeable schlub. Interesting that bus and rail aren’t differentiated. Will the spots lure drivers out of their precious autos? Maybe a few shots of freeway gridlock would have helped…

    Comment by Donald Stanwood on October 26th, 2007 at 2:31 pm »Reply« resta suma

  4. In SF, they have ads where they show cars keeping up to speed with BART until the traffic piles up and the maintenance costs kick in. They should have the same with the Metro ads here.

    Comment by LAofAnaheim on October 26th, 2007 at 8:34 pm »Reply« resta suma

  5. I worked with the actor in this video briefly at a .com startup where he wrote funny copy and appeared in videos. He’s a decent guy.

    Comment by andy fox on October 30th, 2007 at 10:46 am »Reply« resta suma

  6. I’m sure he is, but does that mean the ad is effective? The answer is “maybe”, for rail definitely, but I think most people are going to be frustrated by the environment on the bus. With the unpredictable waits, jerky rides, and annoying blare of Transit TV, it is an order of magnitude difference between the reliable schedule on rail.

    Comment by calwatch on October 30th, 2007 at 11:11 pm »Reply« resta suma