I recently saw these ads on my commute on the 6 train in NYC.
Taken with my incredibly poor Motorola Pebl camera phone.
Text:
This subway can’t take you to Berlin.
Neither can United.
I have seen a number of these subway ads recently and was surprised to see the direct attacks against other airlines. Effective? I am not sure. I do not pretend to know the rules on writing your competitors within your own copy, but I feel that something is not right with it.
Technorati Tags: Continental, marketing.fm, NYC Subway ads
September 24th, 2007 at 9:29 am
I actually think it is very effective. I had no idea United didn’t go to Berlin. I thought they went everywhere. So for me, probably the average consumer, it worked for me.
September 24th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Christine: Thanks for your feedback. I guess for some travelers it is now better to have that knowledge rather than not. Sometimes a clear message works to deliver information – to some other commenter points, I feel they should be stating what is good about the route and airline vs. simply going there.
September 30th, 2007 at 12:34 am
Well, I managed United Airlines at Leo Burnett. Came up with Fly The Friendly Skies with my creative director Jeff Sherman. Destinations are what all the linear thinkers think about. They populate the suit suites and corner offices. It would have been more randon had Continental merely sponsored an ad here that said, “Do you think this subway can take you to Berlin?” That way you’d think about travel, and Berlin and thank Continental for the day dream. A good rule of tumb however is to never mention your competitors. Period. It’s a free impression. And if you’ve ever worked for Coca-Cola, they won’t even hold meetings in hotels that serve the P word. They’re so paranoid about doing anything that might start a new usage habit in a single person. They’ve forgotten how to sell or create successful new carbonated beverages though.
Anyway, to quote Ben Afleck from Boiler Room, “That’s it. I’m done.”