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Post by tonyw79sfv on Mar 24, 2007 0:39:05 GMT -8
I remember reading a blog about McDonald's station advertising campaign for their new LA-only-test-market Angus burger at 7th/Metro. Well, it's also reached the North Hollywood station Friday morning. Does anyone know of any other stations having these advertisements? It seems McDonald's is focusing on stations with major transfers. Also, what gives? Metro never had commercial advertising for Metro Rail trains and stations before.
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Post by Transit Coalition on Mar 24, 2007 3:28:03 GMT -8
What gives is simple. Revenue. The Authority (Metro) has a huge structural operating deficit. That means that the money collected from riders doesn't equal the cost of operating the service. In fact, the rider is only paying $ .24 out of every $1.00 it costs to provide service.
So, the Metro Board asked the staff to see if a whole bunch of advertising could save the day. Well, it can't. It's a drop in the bucket, but it's new revenue. In this case, the advertising is called "Station Prominence", where one advertiser is featured.
There are other types of ads in the works, so don't be surprised when the next types of ads are rolled out.
One thing you won't see is Alcohol and Tobacco ads. The Board wouldn't allow that, even though there are even bigger dollars involved with these advertisers.
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Post by whitmanlam on Mar 24, 2007 9:44:47 GMT -8
Wow !! I can't wait to see a " Victoria's Secret " station lingerie ad campaign.
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Post by Elson on Mar 24, 2007 15:24:35 GMT -8
I think single-advertiser schemes are kind of cheesy; I'd rather see different ads from different companies; they make the place look colorful and add to the vibrancy of the system. Whenever I go to Paris or NYC or London, seeing certain ads over again sort of theme my travel there.
Nevertheless, it's high time there's non-MTA advertisements in the stations.
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Post by kenalpern on Mar 24, 2007 15:45:03 GMT -8
I think they're cheesy, too...hence I order hamburgers, not cheeseburgers! )
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Mar 24, 2007 16:39:45 GMT -8
At the Montgomery BART station, the whole station is a Target advertisement.
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Post by whitmanlam on Mar 24, 2007 18:42:13 GMT -8
If you think a giant hamburger is scary.... look at the new Boxing promotion ads at Union Station.
This is ugly because:
1. It appeals to a very small market in the general population.
2. The ads are scary and the facial expressions are threatening.
3. Nobody's heard of these boxers, where's Floyd Mayweather or Antonio Tarver ? Vitaly Klischko ?
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Post by Elson on Mar 28, 2007 18:26:31 GMT -8
If you think a giant hamburger is scary.... look at the new Boxing promotion ads at Union Station. This is ugly because: 1. It appeals to a very small market in the general population. 2. The ads are scary and the facial expressions are threatening. 3. Nobody's heard of these boxers, where's Floyd Mayweather or Antonio Tarver ? Vitaly Klischko ? Which bout is this? Is this the Cinco de Mayo fight with DeLaHoya? My nephew is a champion boxer from the Philippines and he will be fighting in an undercard match on that event.
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Post by Elson on Mar 28, 2007 18:28:16 GMT -8
I just saw the McD's Angus burger ads in NoHo. There's also ads in the Universal City station for the movie Shrek III. Interesting how the ads are made to look like they are part of the station columns/walls instead of placed in advertising receptacles.
I still would like to see ads placed on the walls across the tracks from the platforms.
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Post by Tony Fernandez on Mar 28, 2007 20:15:18 GMT -8
^^^The Union Station walls could use something to cover themselves up with. What are the holes in the walls for anyway?
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Post by wad on Mar 28, 2007 23:38:34 GMT -8
Which bout is this? Is this the Cinco de Mayo fight with DeLaHoya? My nephew is a champion boxer from the Philippines and he will be fighting in an undercard match on that event. The ads are for a Bodog Fight mixed-martial arts pay-per-view.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Apr 7, 2007 14:32:32 GMT -8
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Post by whitmanlam on Apr 7, 2007 16:16:11 GMT -8
I feel sorry for vegetarians who walk into a giant burger ad every day.
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Post by James Fujita on Apr 7, 2007 17:33:04 GMT -8
none of these photos show the ads in the most logical and obvious places to put them: if I'm an advertiser, I'm going to want to have my ads on the large blank wall immediately behind the tracks, facing the passenger, where they would be visible from the platform and quite likely, from inside the trains as well. that would be the prime real estate, more valuable (and more revenue for the MTA) than those wraparound ads on the station posts. of course, that wouldn't be possible at all the stations, but if you're going to do it, might as well do it right.
and for the record, I'm not a huge fan of ads, but I've seen ads at airports and in plenty of Metro stations on three continents, and I've always regarded ads as one of those necessary evils of transit.
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Post by wad on Apr 13, 2007 23:30:56 GMT -8
and for the record, I'm not a huge fan of ads, but I've seen ads at airports and in plenty of Metro stations on three continents, and I've always regarded ads as one of those necessary evils of transit. I'm personally happy that advertisers realize transit users aren't exclusively where the dogs of society lift their legs. For as long as I can remember, most interior bus ads have been for bail bonds and drug treatment. It's quite a step up when businesses want transit riders to come to their stores.
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Post by James Fujita on Apr 14, 2007 11:22:20 GMT -8
you do have a point, wad. I remember the last time I was in London, several of the stations had ads for West End theater productions. now there's some truly classy advertising.
for better or for worse, ads are an indicator of how far a city's transit has evolved. myself, I'm waiting for the day when stores advertise "two blocks from 7th/Metro Sta." like they do in Tokyo. (free kleenex packs with maps printed on them!)
of course, that's not as vital here where every street has a name and a logical numbering system, but it would show that Metro Rail was becoming a part of our visual and mental landscape.
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joequality
Junior Member
Bitte, ein Bit!
Posts: 88
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Post by joequality on Apr 20, 2007 13:16:33 GMT -8
The 1/3 lb burgers are pretty good, but the 6-dollar ones from Carl's are better, IMO .... food for thought...
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Mac
Full Member
Posts: 192
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Post by Mac on May 1, 2007 17:50:06 GMT -8
Wow !! I can't wait to see a " Victoria's Secret " station lingerie ad campaign. LOL! you would be staring at the for so long, you'll miss like 5 trains before you realize your late for work. lol jkin
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Post by nicksantangelo on May 3, 2007 11:00:10 GMT -8
That reminds me: years ago I was fishing through old L.A. telephone books from the 30s and 40s and I noticed many business made mention of the streetcar line that served their stores. LARY lines 5 and P spring to mind.
I have been trying to get Disney to include Hollywood/Highland for years now- for some reason they REFUSE to reference the station on their website or literature. I find that appalling.
To their credit, the Arclight (nowhere near as close to transit as the El Capitan) agreed to include the 'M' logo on their directions and gave me two free passes for my suggestion!!!
Businesses must include metro on maps and directions when appropriate. We need to get the most out of our investment.
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Post by James Fujita on May 3, 2007 23:13:18 GMT -8
Disney's attitude towards Metro Rail sounds bizarre..... or at least, it would be if it didn't fall into line with their opposition to the Center Line in Anaheim. they aren't happy about light rail in Orlando, either. they must have a company-wide policy of not supporting any public transit that didn't have Disney theme park characters painted on the sides (such as those Disneyland buses you see at LAX) I suspect that getting local businesses to acknowledge Metro Rail in their ads and flyers could be just as important to its future success as positive press coverage...
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Post by Elson on May 8, 2007 11:56:37 GMT -8
Disney's attitude towards Metro Rail sounds bizarre..... or at least, it would be if it didn't fall into line with their opposition to the Center Line in Anaheim. they aren't happy about light rail in Orlando, either. they must have a company-wide policy of not supporting any public transit that didn't have Disney theme park characters painted on the sides (such as those Disneyland buses you see at LAX) I suspect that getting local businesses to acknowledge Metro Rail in their ads and flyers could be just as important to its future success as positive press coverage... Perhaps they have a policy to discriminate against any rail transit system that runs on more than one rail.
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Post by whitmanlam on May 8, 2007 17:37:38 GMT -8
Motivations for Anti-Rail bias:
1. Disney makes money off of parking fees. 2. For the past decade Disneyland has made moves to become an exclusive type of "resort community". Like some of the pricier Las Vegas hotels or Aspen Colorado. They don't want poor or undesirable people anywhere near their theme park. Earlier this Month the City of Anaheim approved an affordable housing development a few blocks away from Disneyland, after loud protests from Disney. Many of those housing units would go to Disney employees who had to commute to work.
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Post by Tony Fernandez on May 8, 2007 18:18:44 GMT -8
They were against that because they wanted that land to expand their park.
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Post by nicksantangelo on May 10, 2007 20:07:28 GMT -8
I got through to MTA customer service regarding Disney recalcitrance regarding rail. She assured me she will contact them. I will make it a point to follow-up.
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Post by nicksantangelo on May 18, 2007 8:03:38 GMT -8
I can't seem to let this go. There is also a distinct East/West coast bias here that really irks me. I mean, if your corporation was based in L.A. and you had a NYC location, would you refuse to list the subway stations closeby? Bad business at the very least. I strongly encourage contacting all business who fail to advertise their proximity to transit. If you get no response, send an email to Danielle @ BoutierD@metro.net. Here's what I emailed her: Hello again: Last night, I was set to leave for a show at the Knitting Factory (7021 Hollywood Blvd.). I went to their website to get the physical address and directions and noticed that Metro was not mentioned or displayed. This place is TWO blocks from the Hollywood/Highland station. So I checked the directions listed for their club in NYC. Sure enough they had detailed public transit directions listed (http://www.knittingfactory.com/about.php), as well as the nearest station shown on a map. What do they have against the L.A. subway? Knitting Factory - New York 74 Leonard Street New York, NY 10013 Tel: (212) 219-3132 Fax: (212) 219-3401 Box Office Hours Monday to Saturday: 10 AM until close Sunday: 2 PM until close Directions You can take the 1 or 9 train to Franklin Street, walk one block south to Leonard, turn left and walk a block & a half to the club. You can take the A, C or E train to Canal Street, walk 4 blocks south and turn left on Leonard. You could also take the N or R train to Canal Street, walk down Broadway 4 blocks to Leonard, turn right, and see the club at the far end of the block. If you are unfamiliar with the downtown area click here for a full MTA New York City Subway Map - from www.knittingfactory.com/about.php
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Post by James Fujita on May 18, 2007 10:47:57 GMT -8
there's an old saying about not attributing to malice what can be sufficiently explained by ignorance or stupidity; in other words, in this case a lot of these businesses may simply be falling into bad old habits and may not necessarily be snubbing Metro Rail out of spite. in all honesty, L.A. still has a long way to go before transit becomes the transportation mode of choice for most folks and we do have to take that into consideration. in some cases, advertising space may be limited and the owner has to make an economic decision regarding what information to include and what to leave out. however, it couldn't hurt to try and get businesses to include subway and light rail options in their materials. the best and easiest way would be to just list the name of the closest station and let the reader puzzle out the fastest way to get to that station (unlike driving directions, where you would typically have to giive more detail) as for Disney..... well, they are evil. as previously pointed out, they have economic incentives to ignore rail. really, I think the only way to get rail transit to Disneyland is if Disney had a hand in "imagineering" the trains like they did here: www.mtr.com.hk/eng/whatsnew/drllaunch/drllaunch_e.htm
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Post by bluelineshawn on May 18, 2007 21:42:07 GMT -8
Interesting. The Pantages and Kodak Theater web pages mention the subway. Hollywood/Highland doesn't. The Wilshire Grand Hotel downtown features the subway and public transportation very prominently. Even more so than driving or taxis. The Sheraton right down the street doesn't mention public transportation at all. It looks like it's hit and miss, but it seems to be catching on at many different businesses. That's a good sign.
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Post by whitmanlam on May 19, 2007 9:15:46 GMT -8
I'm guessing, alot of these places don't advertise the subway station nearby (or underneath them.) because they make money off of parking fees. Especially the Sheraton, early bird special my *ss.
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Post by James Fujita on May 19, 2007 21:44:15 GMT -8
well, regarding the Wilshire Grand, they seem to use the same map as the Downtown News, which is VERY transit-oriented. as for the Sheraton.... they are a hotel. and as such, a lot of their clientele is going to be coming from LAX. which, as we all know, is not the most transit-friendly airport on Earth. the Flyaway Bus may have improved things, I honestly haven't had the chance to find out. but, the sorry situation at the airport would certainly give Sheraton the excuse they need to ignore transit options and yes, parking garage profits probably do have something to do with it. some places do own and operate their own garages, but plenty of others hire parking lot owners to handle all of that messy stuff for them and wouldn't get any direct benefit from encouraging people to pay to park. so, that may help explain why it is "hit and miss"
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Post by tonyw79sfv on May 23, 2007 22:56:55 GMT -8
On the note of Metro looking for more revenue, they now installed a Pepsi vending machine at the mezzanine level of the NoHo station next to the street-access elevator. Too bad you can't drink that stuff in the very station you bought it from.
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