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What would the Orange Line be without the wood paneling?

Orange Line without the fake wood paneling

Although the T hasn't told us one way or another, fans of the 1960's rec-room look probably have to resign themselves to losing the faux wood on the Orange Line trains once the new cars get here in, well, whenever.

Patrick Baxter gives us a taste of an Orange Line car without the rich, dark wood, thanks to an ad campaign that involves wrapping interior walls, ceilings and doors in white.

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Comments

It looks ... fresh. And dare I say bright and airy

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product placement, and we have a winner.

And is anyone really naive enough to believe that Converse (or Foodler or whomever) increases their sales eight gazillion fold with these insulting "saturation bombing" campaigns?

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How much are you willing to pay to offset the T's lost revenue from those ad campaigns?

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It's been determined that, if every passenger paid an extra 35 cents, the T wouldn't need to allow these ad campaigns at all.

And show me why it is necessary for the T to allow advertisers to run completely amuck plastering their messages everwhere in stations and on vehicles. If ad space is so desirable, the T could charge just as much for a few stragically placed advertisements in key locations.

Passengers pay a good amount of money to use the MBTA. We shouldn't have to be subjected to the visual assault of these "saturation bombing" campaing just because the T feels the need to bleed every nickel and dime they can from private companies.

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On the list of issues with the T, I'd rank this fairly low. I don't care if they want to do this. Like most people, I either people watch or read my phone or Kindle. They're just ads, it's not like they're digital or flashing.

An extra 35 cents per ticket is a lot for many people who rely on the T every day. Not worth it to get rid of a minor nuisance at worst, imho.

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And for the shit-poor workers, for whom 70c/day might mean the difference between riding the subway to work or not, or the difference between getting a cup of coffee or snack on their break or not, I'm sure they will be extremely grateful that at least their eyes aren't being "assaulted". It's much more important that you don't have your delicate sensibilities offended.

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Fare pricing affects everyone and for that you have a point. However, is it really that simple?

Remember the Israeli-Palestinian ads that the MBTA was able to pull? How about SEPTA in 2015? What do you consider "delicate" sensibilities?
http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2015/03/court-compels-philly-transit-...

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I have no problem with the MBTA rejecting offensive, racist, libelous or factually inaccurate advertisements. But apparently Roadman's sensibilities are so delicate that he is deeply offended by any advertisements whatsoever.

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so much the advertising itself, but rather the sheer volume of it. And, it's only getting worse and worse, especially with enablers like the T and all the people on here defending their actions.

But let's stick with the whole "What's good for Corporate America must be good for the rest of us" attitude. Because obviously 100+ ads for one product in a small space (North Station commuter rail and subway platforms) MUST be better, and far less wasteful, than a handful of ads strategically placed at key locations.

I'll repeat what I've said in past posts "George Orwell got it wrong. It's not excessive intrusion into every aspect of our lives by the government we should be fearing - it's excessive intrusion into our lives by the marketing executives that's the real threat."

Now, if I wasn't paying almost $200 a month for the privildge of being forced to endure the ever increasing visual assaults - that's the interesting thing about advertising, once you give them something outrageous, they will demand (and usually get) something even more outrageous - on my daily commute, I might have a different attitude about it. It would also help if the T didn't forfeit the advertising revenue they could be making by relying on outside companies to market and sell the space instead of doing these activites with in-house staff.

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But let's stick with the whole "What's good for Corporate America must be good for the rest of us" attitude.

They asked if they could have their strawman back.

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You may not like it, but if businesses continuously do it and see some ROI from it, even if its just brand recognition, it's money well spent.

Sounds like "What's good for Corporate America must be good for the rest of us" to me.

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You posted it under the wrong thread.

And that's not what I meant at all. But whatever. Not worth explaining it anymore because its not worth the cycles to do so.

I'm done feeding the "Roadman hates the T" bs you seem to spew every time a new topic about the T comes up. You are more and more starting to sound like someone who wouldn't be happy with anything the T does. No sense in feeding into it anymore.

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What in your opinion has the T done right lately?

Yes, I'll admit that I can be very critical of the T at times. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that fares keep increasing while the level and quality of service keeps deteriorating. Despite the fact that the level of idiotic advertising keeps exponentially increasing.

Not to mention the fact the T has a consistent string of managers that, instead of trying to find sustainable long term solutions to the serious problems they are facing, blame others for their woes without initiating any meaningful dialogue, and consistently look for short term distractions and gimmicks that, at the end of the day, do nothing of substance to provide the passengers with a reliable tranportation service. And let's not forget the whole matter of "if we don't spend the money on this pointless project or program, we won't get the money".

So forgive me when I point out the flaws (like the fact the T gets only a small percentage of what their ad contractor gets for selling the ad space) in management's policies, plans, and "solutions" to largely perceived problems. With respect, perhaps if you and other people were to look beyond the idea of "I guess this is a benefit, the T seems to think so", you might start to see some of the obvious flaws behind these "innovations".

Lastly, if we as a society have accepted the concept that "placing advertising everywhere is OK because it helps somebody pay expenses or pay down debt", then by all rights I should be able to allow McDonalds (or whomever) to place a billboard on my house in exchange for then paying my property taxes. After all, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, right?

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And that's all I am going to say. Done feeding you. Not worth the argument anymore.

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then.

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Apparently reading comprehension is not your strong suit.

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You may not like it, but if businesses continuously do it and see some ROI from it, even if its just brand recognition, it's money well spent.

And again if it wasn't profitable, people wouldn't continue to do it. And they do!

And as far as advertising in general, I'd like my fare to ride not to rise because they've eliminated a (minor) revenue stream. Sure 35 cents a ride isn't much to you or I, but to someone else, thats about five bucks a week (2 rides a day, 7x a week). That five bucks to someone on low or fixed income could make the difference between riding or not.

I personally believe there should be more of it to keep fairs down, but thats IMHO. Thats what they do in Europe.. lots of advertising everywhere on public transport.

Regardless, I'm surprised this upsets you. I find the flashing ads everywhere else from jumbotrons at train stations, to the captivate thing in my office buildings elevator's, or "CabTV" inside many cabs to be even more annoying than stagnant ads.

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Either you ride the T at hours when there isn't a massive crush of humanity, or you must have x-ray vision.

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I'm willing to give up a few grafty patronage jobs, to have daily commutes be less Idiocracy.

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Which ones?

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The interior/exterior wraps are amazing.

Like a poster said below, they liven up the subway cars.

Not endorsing either company, but these are the first two examples I could find:

Tropicana:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81uav2mCVqU

American Airlines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D67T0f3rj2Q

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Is perhaps the most utilized billboard in the world. Every two minutes, an entirely new crop of passengers crowds in to the cars, for a two minute trip between Times Square and Grand Central. Figure 20 trips an hour for 18 hours a day; you can reach 200,000 people with ads in just nine subway cars.

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Be covered with shitty graffiti like wolf tits within a week.

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both riding the MBTA for 33+ years, and riding NYC subways in the early 1980s, my experience has been that taggers tend to leave advertising alone.

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But somebody keeps putting googly eyes on T ads.

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I'm not sure if it's done any more, but in the 70s and 80s, when the doors between trains said "no passing through" (not that anyone even attempted to pass through like they do in New York), invariably the "p" and the "th" were scratched out so it read "no assing rough". I mean, every single one on all lines, they were always that way. The phrase doesn't really make sense, but to the early adolescent mind it must have seemed vaguely obscene. Just a funny memory.

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Lost it novelty about the fifth or sixth time I saw it.

BTW, New York finally banned the practice of passing between subway cars several years ago.

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After Kramer almost got mugged, and Pierre Nicoli hijacked the train, you think they would have done it sooner.

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not too-too long ago (I'm thinking probably 2008-2010, because that's when I rode the Orange Line regularly.)

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In general, the taggers leave the T alone, and when it does appear, it's very quickly removed.

At least by comparison to NYC

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The Northeast Corridor/Orange Line from Forest Hills to just past Back Bay, on the other hand ...

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passing by Sullivan Square station. And I've always found the T's response to this issue interesting. Every so often, they go through and spray over the tagging with silver or gray paint. In other words, "Taggers, here's a fresh canvas for you."

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It's not as bad as NYC.. inside and out. You always see tagged trains and scratchiti everywhere in NYC. Seldom see it here, if at all.

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Are you perhaps thinking of past history? Graffiti-ridden subway cars were once the norm in New York, but haven't been for years. They've had a very aggressive anti-graffiti campaign for some time now and it seems to have discouraged most of the worst offenders.

In my recent visits to NYC (last trip about three weeks back) I didn't see much graffiti. And I like to ride the NYC subway for kicks, not just to get someplace, so I rode in a lot of cars - and also saw loads of stations - that were graffiti-free. "Scratchiti" is another thing - I saw more of that, but still not any more than I've seen on the T.

(Admitting to riding the subway for kicks is tantamount to admitting some sort of hideous mental defect, but I had to say it to make the point. I am nothing if not courageously defective!)

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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Yes its been a few years (maybe three) since I was in NYC.. so I'm probably just stale.

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Scratchiti is still a major problem in NYC. It's much more expensive to remove than paint graffiti.

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Next time you're in Boston and on the T look at the windows, they're all scratched with graff.

They buy these from home cheepo...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dremel-1-8-in-Green-Shank-Aluminium-Oxide-Gri...

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Large graffiti tags are slowly accumulating in the T stations I use. I've been reporting them to the T, but they don't reply, and nothing ever happens.

I understand they were busy with winter storm issues, but by now they should be able to get back to regular maintenance.

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Those wolf tits are gross.

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Sorry to break it to you but the wood paneling on the O Line is the best thing about the MBTA.

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I think the wood paneling is cozy. Kind of like the nostalgia I feel when watching a Brady Bunch episode.

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This Converse wrap ad was on my Red Line car the other day. I walked in and immediately felt out of place. It took me a couple of minutes to realize it was because the walls were white and not silver.

It's a weird one. The actual advertising portion is such a small part of the wrap that I didn't even notice it until after it hit me that the walls were the wrong color.

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bright compared with the redline grey.

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1. I bet it still smells like pee.
2. all those dead bugs are probably still stuck in the window with an antiquated map.
3. there's probably still all kinds of trash and grime on the floor.

baby steps.

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be removing the stench of urine and sadness as well?

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Disorienting as I entered until I realized what they had done, but I thought it was a very nicely designed ad. A new very clean design that changes things up made it a surprisingly enjoyable experience for me. if the T is making more money off that car then their usual rectangular poster ads and it creates a new and interesting experience for their daily rider, then why not?

Although on a side note - advertising a heavily gratified version of your product is an interesting way to promote it.

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Disorienting as I entered until I realized what they had done, but I thought it was a very nicely designed ad. A new very clean design that changes things up made it a surprisingly enjoyable experience for me. if the T is making more money off that car then their usual rectangular poster ads and it creates a new and interesting experience for their daily rider, then why not?

Although on a side note - advertising a heavily gratified version of your product is an interesting way to promote it.

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I'd find all those white walls ugly, and I wish I knew why.

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Converse knew exactly what they were doing and that's why this ad campaign is so brilliant. The subway wrap campaign isn't about showing off their latest shoes. It's about drumming up hype over how good an Orange Line car looks when you cover the paneling. Their advertising on the wrap is extremely minimal and instead showcases the clean whiteness of the wrap with the hope that articles just like this one would go viral about how good it looks.

It did. Social media is abuzz today with how great this looks and who made the Orange Line car look great? Converse.

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All Hail Converse. Because they came up with an expensive gimmick. Think about what better uses the time, money, and other resources expended in developing this ad campaign could have been put to.

And don't even get me started on how repulsive it is that corporate America has totally corrupted social media for their own gains.

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And don't even get me started on how repulsive it is that corporate America has totally corrupted social media for their own gains.

If only they had left it alone, like they did with every other type of media, ever.

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tbh (as the kids say), corporate America is embarrassingly bad at social media. there are exceptions, but from Twitter to Tumblr to Facebook, sponsored content is usually about as appealing to the average 18-34 year old as a prostate exam. we just ignore it.

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Geez. When you run Converse, you can decide on how to waste their money. We get it, you hate marketing.

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