You could
call this How to run the best advertising campaign or Madrid subway poster: a ticket to nowhere
Here’s a photo from the recent campaign by the
subway company in Madrid, Spain.
It’s a
great idea as it aims to show very simply and clearly what good value you are
getting for your ticket when you ride the subway in Madrid by comparing the
charges on subways around the world. The timing was important because the
campaign ran just as the company were implementing a pretty drastic hike in the
price of fares.
Unfortunately,
the campaign generated so much negative feedback that the posters were hastily
taken down, that’s to say the ones that had not been ripped up by angry
commuters who felt the company were trying to play them for fools.
At first
sight, the argument seems to be clear: the price of a ticket on the Madrid
subway is lower than in many other cities and there are the figures to prove
it.
But they
don’t.
In the
first place, some subway users felt that some of the figures used were
inaccurate because they do not compare similar journeys, as they knew from
their holidays abroad.
In the
second place, and more importantly, the figures do not take into account the relative wage levels in
the different cities quoted. This was really most angered the MadrileƱos, who
suffer some of the lowest wages in Europe. Apart from the huge number of young,
qualified adults who are becarios,
working full time hours in exchange for a grant, there are thousands working
for a minimum wage of less than 1,000 euros a month. How can you compare ticket
prices for those persons with ticket prices in London where salaries are
generally much higher?
So, a great
poster, great idea and perfect timing. Just a shame the company didn’t think
about who their customers are before printing the ads. This was a ticket to
nowhere and the light at the end of the tunnel was a glare of bad publicity.
On second thoughts, maybe you should call
this How to ruin the best advertising campaign.
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