Buses and trains—and the stations they pass through—are seen by hordes of commuters each day. As such, brands from wine companies to mega retailers like Target have used them for public-facing promotions through the years. Here's how 13 brands have spread their message using trains, buses, and stations.
Chicago’s Field Museum is hosting the exhibition "The Greeks, From Agamemnon to Alexander the Great" through April 17. To promote the exhibit in December, the museum enlisted Illumivation Studios to cover a Chicago train station with a giant Trojan horse. Visitors at the activation were encouraged to Tweet a photo using the hashtag #TheGreeks.
As an unusual way to get the attention of busy New Yorkers—and camera-happy tourists—FX put a cozy sweater on wheels in the streets of Manhattan to promote the network premiere of its original series Fargo in 2014. More than a week before Fargo's premiere, FX's sweater-clad double-decker bus toured New York City.
As part of an advertising campaign centered on the phrase “In an Absolut World: Opportunities Always Pop Up,” Absolut Vodka commissioned artist Justin Broadbent to create an art installation in the Toronto Transit Commission's abandoned Lower Bay station in 2009. The end result was an art exhibit by day and a party space by night, with themed subway cars. The "Love" subway car, filled with gerbera daisies and oversize paper flowers, included a love-letter vending machine.
In 2007, bleary-eyed New York commuters got an early morning wake-up call thanks to Bravo's then-new series, Top Design. Instead of entering the usual 42nd Street shuttle terminal in Grand Central, New Yorkers found themselves in a chic living room complete with glowing lamps, flowers, and plush modern furniture. The event, which was created by Jason Klarman, senior vice president of marketing and brand strategy for Bravo, and Jim Anstey and Gabe Banner of Lime Public Relations and Promotion, was intended for members of the press, but given its very public location, crowds of people on their way to work stopped to gawk at the contestants and the living room displays, which were conceptualized and furnished by designer Jonathan Adler.
In 2007, Harry Potter hype came to a boiling point when the seventh and final installment of the book series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, became available. In preparation, Scholastic heightened anticipation across the country with a bus tour celebrating all things Potter. Traveling to 37 libraries in 15 cities, the tour allowed fans to board what author J.K. Rowling described as the “violently purple” Knight Bus (identical to the enchanted one that debuted in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) and record a video detailing their devotion to the ever-popular teenage sorcerer.
Uniqlo, the Japanese clothing brand, opened its first Chicago store on Michigan Avenue in October. To promote the opening, the brand hosted a series of “train takeovers” that began in late September and continued through the store's opening day. During the promotion, the exterior of the train was wrapped in the brand's logo, a sign that read "From Tokyo to Chicago," and information about the store opening.
In 2012, eyewear brand Warby Parker staged the “Class Trip.” The traveling marketing campaign involved an old yellow school bus retrofitted to look like a professor’s library. “It’s important to us that Warby Parker has high national visibility, which can be a challenging goal for an online business,” said co-founder Neil Blumenthal of the promotion. “Traveling across the country on wheels seemed like a fun and out-of-the-box approach to retail.”
In 2013, Target built a two-story 1,520-square-foot dollhouse furnished with more than 3,000 products from its Threshold collection in New York’s Grand Central Terminal.
French winemaker Georges Duboeuf celebrated the official uncorking of its 2009 Beaujolais Nouveau red wine harvest a hippie-theme luncheon at Au Pied de Cochon in Miami in 2009. A Volkswagen bus decorated with peace sign and flower stickers lead a procession of motorcycles down Washington Avenue to promote the wine's arrival at the restaurant.
In 2010, the Patrón Tequila Express, a refurbished antique railcar, went on a five-city Epicurean Express tour. At its Washington stop, the tequila brand served cocktails and hors d'oeuvres in a narrow loading area between tracks 29 and 30 at Union Station.
Ted Baker, a British brand known for its irreverent style, opened a Midwest flagship store in Chicago in 2012. After the in-store launch event, guests were whisked to the after-party via a quintessentially English mode of transportation: a branded double-decker bus, which served as a roving advertisement for the brand.
In 2007, the Toronto Transit Commission’s Lower Bay subway station—closed since 1966 but still used for film shoots—served as a backdrop for the Italian Trade Commission’s annual Toronto International Film Festival party. Kim Graham & Associates chose to decorate the station, which is somewhat of an urban legend for many Torontonians, in a surreal, retro glam theme; Terroni served Italian red wine and prosecco from one of the subway cars.
Spa music spilled out of speakers in New York's Grand Central Station and Chicago's Union Station one morning in 2010, providing an unusually ethereal soundtrack for both cities' morning rush hours. To coincide with the launch of its new financial management tool, Zendough.com, consumer reporting agency TransUnion staged two so-called “Yoga Takeover” events that brought large-scale mat classes—and dreamy accompaniment—to both venues.
