Toronto subway station overtaken with conditioner ads and it's hard to take
The onslaught of ads that greets us as we trudge onto the TTC is overwhelming at the best of times, but those station takeovers all by one brand can be a bit much.
Someone certainly felt that way about Pantene's recent takeover of a Toronto subway station.
"Why is every inch of Yonge Station covered with advertisements?" someone wrote on Twitter.
"This is too much. We use your service to get around #Toronto, not to be pushed into buying shampoo."
@TTChelps Dear #TTC, why is every inch of Yonge Station covered with advertisements? This is too much. We use your service to get around #Toronto, not to be pushed into buying shampoo.
— Cat Mills (@CatsterCat) June 2, 2022
Thanks! pic.twitter.com/Y3CRRpXcyW
Aside from the obvious answer, which is that the ads generate revenue for the transit service, the TTC officially responded saying that Pattison Outdoor is technically responsible for advertisements on the service, linking to a place where the user can provide feedback.
Thanks for your feedback, Cat. Advertisements on the TTC is managed by Pattison Outdoor. If you want to pass on your feedback regarding this ad, you can do so here: https://t.co/AGXCPrHBRi ^JV💎
— TTC Customer Service (@TTChelps) June 2, 2022
The individual still took issue with that and had further questions. The person is a documentary filmmaker who's interested in the legality of billboards as an area of focus.
So Pattinson, a private company, controls all advertising on the TTC? Why doesn't the TTC control this directly? Limiting excessive advertising to the public is pretty tricky to arrange with an advertising company...
— Cat Mills (@CatsterCat) June 3, 2022
It's not the first time this has happened at a Toronto TTC station: No Name's takeover of transit and more was particularly obvious and even pretty clever.
If you want your own ads on the exterior or interior of a bus, streetcar or subway, or all over a transit stop or GO transit, the people to contact are Pattison. The TTC and Pattison currently have a $324 million contract that's supposed to last until the end of 2023.
Rates were reported as being in the hundreds of thousands for lengthy advertising stints on transit, so anyone advertising here certainly has a healthy ad spend because entire takeovers aren't cheap.
