I love ideas that make using PT fun. Like most people, I can also get quite annoyed at bus stops and train stations and trains being vandalised by idiots who scratch their names in them (although there’s usually a protective covering on them anyway). This idea combines both of those things plus advertising all in one.
To promote their newest exhibit, “The Way of the Shovel: Art as Archaeology,” the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago came up with a clever idea – ads that scratch off to reveal artwork underneath.
The backlit ad is underneath a top coat like you would find on a lotto ticket and the more that people scratch off the brighter the ad gets although I imagine it creates a bit of a mess. Who knows, perhaps it will even distract the idiots who love to scratch up public infrastructure at any opportunity.
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Brainless method to reward vandalism. Destroy your own property, not ratepayer-funded property.
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, isn’t ratepayer funded. The vandals are destroying what a bunch of wealthy philanthropists paid for, and clearly those philanthropists are happy to have it destroyed.
The same’s true, as far as I know, in Auckland – the bus shelters are paid for by the advertising company that runs the ads on the shelters. I’m not 100% sure about Auckland, but in Wellington AdShel definitely build and maintain the shelters at no cost to ratepayers. Vandalism is the cost of doing business – but luckily it’s the ad company’s cost, not the public’s.
At least it’s not grafetti from paint cans, I want to commend AT for keeping the rail corridor free from taging, makes a huge difference to Auckland’s image!!
Love the idea. Definitely worth exploring ways to implement it in AKL – to make it a marketing-effective exercise and effect behaviour change (for the better of course) amongst certain members of our younger brethren…
Love how only the person against this campaign has the maturity to use his real name.
Maturity is over rated and growing up is a trap.
I like the use of images on the protective layer they use on the train stations and some bus stops. Maybe an opportunity for advertising to cover the costs?
Keeping the train corridors grey isn’t doing a whole lot for Auckland’s image. Look at Melbourne, all their train corridors are full of colour and its known to be one of the best cities in the world.. They need more art on the lines, and i’m not talking about ‘tags’ but just more life.. makes a dull train ride that much more enjoyable.
This kind of vandalism seems to have decreased over time. Coverings must help, as does higher patronage of infrastructure.