Advertising the Tube

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Do not talk on the tube unless you want to be pinned as a tourist. Although this is not a law, it is an unspoken rule universally understood by London’s residents. The program’s staff members, who imparted this knowledge upon me, are self-proclaimed London experts. I trust them on this rule because even if they are not all actuallyfrom London, I have observed this phenomenon time and time again. These silent tube rides have given me a chance to observe the differences between adverts, the abbreviation for ‘advertisement’ here, in the UK and the U.S. In London, I have noticed that advertisements are much more risqué and ‘punchy,’ and while I am trying to remain open, adverts still often startle me in London.

Let me give you a little background. The advertisements on the tube are set up similarly to the Iowa Cambus advertisements, and the ads on many other public transportation systems in the US, in that they are positioned within a banner across the top of the seats, above passengers’ heads. By having this placement, people avoiding eye contact with other passengers, so as not to strike possible conversation or discomfort, will look up and read the adverts during their ride on the tube.

While taking my regular tube ride to work on Wednesday, I was minding my own business when a particular advert stood out to me. It had a picture of a crying baby wearing almost no clothing. The text on the ad read, “This sick baby will die before you get to work.” I was absolutely shocked by this ad, but I could not say anything to my friend because of said unspoken rule. The advert was in my face, as I was standing, but no one else on the tube seemed to have given even the slightest bit of acknowledgement to the image. This stunned me even more because regular passengers on the tube are so used to this type of advertising that images, such as the one I had seen, do not faze them.

Later in the week, I saw another similar advert. This one, obviously geared toward women, had a picture of a young girl along with writing that said, “Do you remember your first period? Your wedding day? Having your first child? Ariel does. She’s twelve.” I again was taken aback by the bluntness of the advertisements distributed here. These adverts are not what I had expected from advertising in the UK. What I was anticipating, and have already seen, was sexual advertisements, including adverts on the streets with naked – or nearly naked – women. I am still not entirely sure what those ads were selling, but there were definitely naked women on them.

Although I am continuing to see these risqué adverts in London, they highlight a difference of cultures and remind me that I am not in the US anymore.

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