Bring on the ads FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2004 - CHRISTOPHER DEWOLF MONTREAL, 13.09.04 : AUTOBODY SHOP ON ST-DENIS MONTREAL, 13.09.04 : SQUARE ON BIENVILLE STREET MONTREAL, 13.09.04 : PONTIAC STREET ON THE PLATEAU MONTREAL, 15.09.04 : AFTERNOON ON STE-CATHERINE STREET MONTREAL, 15.09.04 : AFTERNOON ON STE-CATHERINE STREET MONTREAL, 17.09.04 : STE-CATHERINE AT UNIVERSITY MONTREAL, 18.09.04 : RACHEL ST. WITH MT. ROYAL BEHIND MONTREAL, 18.09.04 : ST-LAURENT SEEN FROM DULUTH MONTREAL, 18.09.04 : GRAFFITI ON CLARK STREET MONTREAL, 18.09.04 : CLARK NEAR RACHEL MONTREAL, 22.09.04 : CAR FREE DAY, STE-CATHERINE STREET MONTREAL, 22.09.04 : MUSICIANS ON CAR FREE DAY MONTREAL, 23.09.04 : MAN AT PLACE VILLE-MARIE MONTREAL, 23.09.04 : OLD MAN ON STE-CATHERINE STREET MONTREAL, 23.09.04 : MAN READING ON MONT-ROYAL AVENUE Ads are evil, right? If you’re a reader of Adbusters you probably think so. Besides, it’s no treat to be constantly bombarded with urgent demands that you buy something. But sometimes advertising’s benefits outweigh its harm. Just over a week ago, Montreal’s transit agency, the STM, installed giant video screens in the metro system’s hub station, Berri-UQAM. The ads will show a combination of advertising and news briefs (provided by Canada’s public broadcaster), as well as information on the weather outside and when the next two trains will arrive. Eventually, Berri will be home to 22 screens and 140 will be installed at 16 stations throughout the network. Predictably, some are appalled, arguing that more advertising – especially flickering video screens – is an unjustified assault on one’s senses and private space. But let’s be realistic: public transit can’t afford to forgo any potential revenue. Given that governments across Canada have consistently underfunded transit, finding new ways to bring in cash is essential to operating an efficient, well-maintained system. In some cases, advertising can actually enrich the public transport experience: the Paris metro, for instance, has huge and ubiquitous ads in all of its stations, yet nobody complains. In fact, they have even worked their way into the mystique of the metro. There should be limits, obviously. A couple of years ago, a downtown Boston subway station was renamed in favour of a corporate sponsor; New York is considering doing the same in order to plug a massive hole in its transit operator’s budget. These kinds of re-brandings cross the line of acceptability because they alter the structure of the system itself, raising questions of accountability and conflict of interest. But more passive forms of advertising, such as the silent video screens installed at Berri UQAM – especially when they’re combined with services and info that benefit passengers – do no harm to transit users while actually improving transit service. (That said, it’s worth pointing out the absurdity of broadcasting car advertisements in a metro system, as Rima Elkouri did in the September 28 edition of La Presse. While car manufacturers are too lucrative a source of revenue to pass up, maybe the STM should offer discount rates for companies and groups promoting alternative modes of transportation.) Discuss this post on our discussion forum Head over to the archives for last month's posts