west o, saturday, 3.31.12
Caption contest. No wait… Better Bus Bench Ad contest. In the advertising industry, people refer to ads you make for yourself when you have no paying advertisers as house ads. And the bench above features one such “house ad.” Sometimes people refer to PSAs as house ads too, even though they are PSAs.
Now, I’m sure you, the smart Oakland blog reader, can come up with a better ad. Examples:
- Don’t sit here. Moving targets are harder to hit than stationary ones.
- Sit here. Moving targets are more tempting to hit than stationary ones.
- Green is clean.
- I don’t have to bother hunting for a parking spot.
- Why pay for parking?
- Sightsee and peoplewatch in Oakland. Only $2.10.
- Save on gas, buy more greens. [whatever that means for you]
Until the death of online advertising commences, I don’t see bus bench ad agencies getting much business. Since I foresee that happening someday, now would be a good time to get into the bus bench ad business for pennies on the dollar. Except…for the years of cleaning and repainting the benches while you wait.
On the other hand, this is a HUGE missed branding opportunity for AC Transit. Are you guys asleep at the wheel?? Oddly, I’ve never once seen an AC Transit advertisement for itself a la SF MUNI or LA METRO. Maybe the bus bench is the real life equivalent of the468x60 digital banner ad, and no one designs for it anymore…
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On another note, some people recently started publishing awesome photo and transcribed audio interviews taken throughout Oakland. Let’s meet our neighbors, including Gregory and Bird. Thanks Sati and Saskia!
Now show me your engaging house ad concept. Hey DTO510 and Gene and 38th Notes…
Retrofitting Oaktown 