Heard on the radio today that one of the Acela’s will be decked out from stem to stern with an advertisement for the History Channel. The DJ reported that the windows won’t be covered, and Amtrak is selling the ad space to raise extra money for the cash-strapped company.
Just read about this on the Trains news wire. Sounds like a neat idea for the Acela Express. If it could bring money to Amtrak (maybe…), then we’ll see how it goes. Light rail, such as in Minneapolis and the CTA trains in Chicago have wrapped trains before, and they look impressive. A great way to get some extra cash, and they stand out, too.
From what I heard this is an advertisement for a TV documentary about 1968 with Tom Brokaw. Not entirely sure if this is a big enough deal to wrap a train about…
It’s an OK source of revenue, I guess, but who will be able to read the ad when the train is zipping along at 100 mph and more?
Shhhhhh. … . Long as the folks at the ad agency for the History channel don’t know that, its more money for Amtrak.
On a slightly more serious note, Amtrak did do something similar back in the late 90s for the “Celebrate the Century Express” with the post ofice. Granted, that was more involved then simply wrapping a train with an ad, but it did look pretty cool. Its ben done before in a tastefull way, hopefully it can be done again. Besides, Acela is fun to watch going by at speed. IMO, After seeing it sitting in South Station in Boston numerous times (theres almost always one there), standing still they’re worth about a 30 second glance.
Oh, goody–professional graffiti. Gee, all that ad revenue, whatever will Amtrak do with ALL that money? But 20 new locomotives? Refurbish all of the coaches? Add new trains? Pad some executives pocket?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20071107/ap_tr_ge/travel_brief_amtrak_wrapped_train
Zardoz,
You have to hit the space or return key after a web link to make it active.
Fixed. Thanks. (I usually do it, but for some reason [D)] I forgot this time.
Jeez, just what we need - more advertisements polluting our vision [sigh]
Didn’t they do this before with Toyota? Washington Metro has cars wrapped in advertising now. I have seen exactly one but I don’t remember what it was advertising. At least they are trying to find another revenue source. I still don’t get why they don’t franchise out the food service cars. Starbucks and McDonald’s would be sure to go for it.
Not far from where I live is a McDonald’s “Express.” They sell everything a McDonald’s can except for the ice-cream sundaes and shakes. It’s really quite compact but even then, what are the implications of boiling grease on a moving train? Besides, french fries generate a lot of sales and revenues for Mickey D’s.
But basically you’ve got a sound idea if some format could be found to fit into the (minimal) prep. space in a cafe-car. I for one would prefer Subway, without the new grilled sandwiches. But, since fast-food workers are generally low-wage schlubs, are there implications here that would trouble the unions?
[#ditto]
I really hated the ad for the Toyota Tundra on the P42; it made me shudder to look at the photo in TRAINS Mag.
Hmmm… if Trains Mag publishes a photo of an engine with advertising on it, does Trains Mag get paid for the advertisement in the magazine?
Would Kambach’s Advertising Dept. have a response to the above question?