MTA FAIL... AGAIN

Well it looks like the MTA has finally caught up to 1988. They are currently installing digital signs that indicate when the next trains will arrive.

Problem #1: The extra "1." before the actual train number (1) is unnecessary. It is superfluous since the list is so short that we do not need numbering. Plus it is visually confusing to have the numbering next to trains that themselves are numbered.

Problem #2: The LED dot matrix display is up to date... in 1988. The point of using the flip-dot display is to use on large (no) outdoor (no) signs that usually will be exposed to direct sunlight (no).

Problem #3: Sometimes they are wrong.

MTA CHUTZPAH

Copy: "Instead of developing transit apps ourselves, we gave our info to the people who do it best."

Now if only they would lend some of that improvement to the G train. It would be easy because every single thing about that train needs help.

ABSOLUT WORLD

Absolut wild posting. Houston Street, New York.

While the simplicity and unity of the colour palette and typography make for a beautiful poster, I really don't care about some absolut fantasy world I know nothing about that is the basis of this campaign. I am in this world and I will live, die and drink my vodka here.

AGNOLOTTI, FONTINA, WINE AND SEWER RATS

Buitoni has an OOH campaign running in the 14th Street Union Square subway station right now. Yes, that's right -- a company is advertising food in one of the dirtiest places in the city. Images of delicious "masterpiece" dishes of artfully composed ravioli and fettucini are pasted on walls that are caked with filth and are adjacent to garbage cans, trash and peeling paint. Yum.

The idea of showing how Buitoni's pasta, sauce and cheese products can come together to look beautiful and appetizing is good. Such a benefit is believable and it's good to see how, when done right, these already prepared dishes can transform into meals that look like they were yanked from Giorgione's kitchen.

It seems, however, that the reasons why the media planners chose this location to place the ads were far too left-brained: the reach (tons of commuters every day), the proximity to a point of purchase (Food Emporium), and the dimensions and variety of available media (big walls, turnstiles, etc.). If you look at the shot above of the six dishes arranged horizontally on the beam above the L, there is rust, dirt and peeling paint. I'm sorry, but my mind is not getting in the hungry mood and I'm distracted by the unsightly surroundings. My memory may retain the idea of "Buitoni" but that idea is not connected to hunger so I don't retain it as well. A simple product shot and logo could have done that in lieu of this faux museum.

The actual campaign -- food as art -- is a tired one and is a waste of an idea to get across the concept that food can look artfully good and is therefore delicious. Perhaps an in-store placement would have been a far better way to reach consumers since it's clear the proximity of Food Emporium upstairs was the reason why they chose this subway station. I'm definitely not going to pause in my commute -- New Yorkers do not stroll or meander through subway stations -- to read a fake museum card talking about the ingredients of a pasta dish, let alone write the phone number down (which I can't dial from my BlackBerry anyway because the letters don't match up with the numbers) and call it from an underground location where I can't get phone service. I called the number -- for the purposes of this critique -- and discovered that you hear a brief museum-like explanation of the "art" you're looking at and you continue to dial the number associated with the piece of "art" you're facing. It's not that big of a pay off, but it makes the campaign 360. And that's all that matters so woo-hoo.

I don't think everyone corralled behind this as a brilliant idea. Rather, I think the client needed something and cut back on spend so that a good smart idea could not have been reached. Instead of creative concepting, the budget clearly went entirely to media.

BELVEDERE VODKA'S LATEST SHOT

I don't really care that luxury has apparently been reborn. I do care that the use of the word "macerate" in Belvedere vodka's new campaign is a really smart choice.

So many vodka brands when trying to describe flavoured vodkas stick with common descriptions such as "infused", "blended", or "distilled", all of which are not colourful enough to really enable consumers to picture actual fruit. When you have a clear vodka as your product it's difficult to reference real fruit since the product you're showing does not look like it has real fruit due to the lack of the actual colour of fruit juice. Therefore, there is a built-in stigma of artificial flavouring. As such, when told that real fruit has been paired with the vodka, many consumers cry bullshit. At least the ones who care (aka the luxury market).

Belvedere seems to cajole consumers into buying into this "real fruit" sell by selecting a word for their headlines that is unique -- and therefore memorable -- and that immediately conjures up an image of muddled fruit being broken down and soaking up vodka. It's really the perfect word for a flavoured liquor. "Macerate" also has the added plus of sounding like the word "masticate", which as we know means chewing food.

The only downside is that you still have the problem of the product being clear. Belvedere tried to circumvent this by putting an image of muddled fruit at the bottom of the bottle's label, which gets the point across, but again reminds us that there is not actually fruit in here. It would change the visual identity, but perhaps if they used an opaque or black bottle it would not be so noticeable.

NEXT STOP: GREENE STREET

Schein, Francoise. Subway Map Floating on a New York Sidewalk, 1986.

There's an interesting and little-noticed work of art on Greene Street in Soho. It is a sculpture, albeit one that is embedded in the city sidewalk. It consists of inlaid steel bars representing train lines with circular lights representing the train stops. While it is almost an exact copy of a Manhattan subway map, the work does initially seem to be an abstraction due to its scale and odd-ish self-referential subject matter. Visually, the clean metal Bauhaus-esque lines serve as a shiny, light contrast to the matte, dark concrete of the sidewalk. This sculpture belongs here and these lines feel so naturally integrated in their space probably because of they are reminiscent of the famed cast iron buildings that permeate Soho.

The subway, which lives underground, has been brought above ground perhaps in an effort to get people to see and appreciate it as a whole, not just the parts in which we use here and there to get us from A to B. Alternatively, it could also be said that bringing this massive network above ground and thrusting it into our vision could serve as a way of saying that New York's subway system is a mess and a serious urban planning overhaul is needed.

LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME

Pepsi billboard. Near Astor Place in New York, 2009.

Enough with the criticism of Arnell's Pepsi re-branding. First of all, the logo itself is a nice contemporary update of the old early 2000s trend of making logos 3-D with elaborate gradients. This 2-D logo not only stands out from all of the gradient junk out there, but it also seems illustrated as opposed to photographed, which lends it more artistic worth. Moreover, it is very economical in that it does not require different versions for different materials (e.g. an embroidered logo can't be 3-D; it would need a flat vector version). The "pepsi" type treatment, however? Well that's a different story. The type is far too feminine and delicate and so does not fit with the inherent in-your-face caffeinated energetic fizzy nature of soda, which creates a disconnect in the mind of the consumer. I'm hoping they phase it out once the logo proliferates society. OOH was a great choice to start this new campaign since it attains millions of impressions in a short period of time.

NYC billboards are everywhere and are clutter within a city of clutter. Many of them might get a second or two of a passerby's attention, but these Pepsi billboards are impossible to not notice. They're clean, simple and direct. And they're innovative. While most billboards make sure to jam in a logo, an image, and seven words of copy, Pepsi's ad trims the fat so well that it includes the logo within the copy all while establishing a new colour palette that, due to the billboard's scale, makes it easier to associate the colours with the brand itself as opposed to just the ad. Refreshing.

RESTAURANT SIGN DONE RIGHT

What's so artistic about a restaurant sign? Well most restaurants and bars use folded easels like this one and get their most high-school-ish waitress to write the bubbly copy in chalk. Pink chalk. Yellow chalk. Maybe a cute doodle. But this restaurant, which I think is a Chinese place, chose to make their sign permanent and unique by gluing on real clam shells to make the dish come to life. Remember, it's the little things that can make a big difference.