Bus advertising makes me sad…
July 1st, 2006As you may know, I am carless - by choice.
Several years ago I gave up my car, in part because it was getting too expensive, but also because it was just too much trouble. I borrowed a car from my mother last weekend for the whole weekend and I realized that having a car stresses me out. I feel obligated to go out and DO things and I don’t like that feeling. It may be inconvenient sometimes, but I’m mostly happy not having a car. This is not to say it won’t change at some point, but for the most part it works for me.
So I walk a lot and ride the bus. A lot of people in Albany put down the public transportation system here, but by and large they are people who don’t utilize the system in place. People say that CDTA sucks because of things they heard years ago - things that aren’t actually true.
Because I am a people watcher, I don’t usually disengage myself from the bus when I’m riding it. I watch people, I overhear snippets of conversation and I look at the advertisements on the buses, but the advertising always makes me sad.
I like advertising on public transportation because it’s optional. I don’t feel subjected to it, but rather like I can look at it or not, read it or not, pay attention or not. Looking at it, seeing it, it’s not a requirement to ride the bus, but it’s something to do while you’re riding.
The reason it makes me sad, though, is how little of it there is, and how out-of-date most of it is. This is saddening because it means that advertisers aren’t taking this form of marketing effective. I see the buses covered in ads for television and car dealerships on the outside of the buses, but the insides are left comparatively bare. It’s a shame because it means that CDTA is not getting the necessary money to make the improvements that would help make things better for the riders, if not change the minds of people who will always think that CDTA is a worthless endeavor in the city of Albany.
Well, it is probably in some ways a realistic thing to expect. First off the outside of the bus casts a far greater audience than inside. Also, although I will agree that in some cases it is an unfair stereotype, people who use buses, may not always be the wealthiest of people and may not have money to spend on what may be considered luxery items. Certainly an ad for a car inside a bus would make little sense because if those people where to drive, they likely would not be on the bus. Where as on the outside most of the people seeing those ads are people in traffic who could really appreciate I new car.
This I think may be especially true in Albany, although it is a decent sized urban area it is relatively easy to get around Albany in a car, and parking can be annoying, but is not an hour long event like it can be in some other cities.
Those who do you use Albany’s bus system will more often than not be people who don’t have the means to purchase more lavish niceties that advertising is usually aiming at.
In somewhere like NYC where public transportation is a must use for the majority of people even those with a fair bit of expendable income it is more likely to find a target audience, but even then those traveling are usually focused on where they are going or where they are coming from, or if this is part of thier daily commute have incorporated other things into their commute to better utilize their type, whether it’s filling out a TPS report on their laptop while on the metro north or doing a jumble in the paper while on the subway.
Well I have spewed on about this long enough, time to catch up on other posts I missed over the holiday.
Comment by Ed � July 5, 2006 @ 9:41 am
While it’s true that major metropolitan areas have a lot more people using their public transportation systems, it’s a complete fallacy to think that most people using public transportation are lower class people. Partly because of rising gas prices, but also because of the sheer number of State workers in the city and outlying areas, a LOT of people use CDTA - even people with cars.
The Park and Ride system is well-utilized and it’s not uncommon to see middle class, white coller workers on the bus on their way to or from work. Also, you’re forgetting about the teens and pre-teens who are targetted demographics for most advertisers.
The biggest problem that I have with this is the outdated advertising for promotions that are no longer going on, but even the human service ads that you see, such as Planned Parenthood or scholastic assistance are few and far between.
I think that in a lot of ways the preconceived notions that you share here are shared by a lot of people, simply because it’s easier to think of people on the bus as low-income people. While they are there, too, they are not the majority of bus riders - especially in the summer. The majority is made up of kids who are too young to drive… and they are being missed by marketers.
Comment by FyreGoddess � July 6, 2006 @ 13:59 pm