Advertising, Art and Posters on the London Underground

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Advertising on the London Underground

How the advertisers see us

This page was last updated 12th Apr 04

A recent article in Media Week magazine began in this way "The caricature of a typical London commuter is the aspiring but cynical male. He is a middle class, middle aged, suburban, lemming like creature, walking the same path, standing at the same spot, at the same time, with the same newspaper, on the same station each morning, catching the same train, bus or tube, noticing very little between house and workplace".

Has a certain ring of truth, doesn't it? Anyway the article continued "While in theory, commuters are a captive audience, they are also creatures of habit and the ads they see on their way to and from work run the risk of becoming a nondescript part of the urban landscape".

Love them or hate them, advertisements are an integral part of the London Underground and unless you go around with your eyes shut (not advised!) you will definitely be exposed to some major ads on your journey. And the advertising people know that they have to show a lot of them to grab your attention.

The marketing manager of a company responsible for selling all of the advertising sites on the London Underground - Viacom Outdoor, observed: "The commuter has become much more sophisticated in distilling the information he takes in on his way to work and so the advertiser has had to become more ingenious at targeting him. Ads targeting the commuter need to be either extremely repetitive (continually punctuating his journey) or be extremely creative in order to catch his attention".

That's why you see so many of the same ads taking up the whole of escalator sites!

Now there are loads and loads of people who travel on the London Underground. Did you know the following "fascinating" facts (God I'm becoming nerdy and according to comedian Vic Reeves 87.6% of statistics are made up on the spot!!). Anyway these figures come from the Transport Statistics Great Britain 1998 survey:

3.7 million workers commute into greater London every weekday

1.2 million commute into central London every weekday

Only 12.6% of central London commuters drive in (that's because the average speed in central London is just 8mph (although sometimes the average speed of tubes on the District Line seems to be only 10mph!!)

Of those commuters 31.1% use the tube, so we're talking about around a million of us using the tube to get into London every day. With that amount of people, advertisers are going to make sure they use every available inch of space on the underground to put their messages across.

Love em or hate em, tube ads are here to stay. Some provide a great art form (see below), some are just annoying and intrusive. But could more ads mean lower fares? Find out here.

Detail from Richard Spice poster from the Oliver Green book Underground Art

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London Underground Posters and Art

Having been given a wonderful book for Xmas - Underground Art by Oliver Green, I thought the best place to start would be a brief look at how the London Underground has portrayed itself over the years. We really have Frank Pick to blame for this. As well as being responsible for commissioning the typeface that the London Underground still uses today - Johnston, as Head of Publicity for the London Underground in 1908 he commissioned hundreds of posters by both popular artists and relatively unknown ones too. Man Ray, David Hockney, Edward McKnight Kauffer and Paul Nash are amongst the many artists who have produced artwork for the tube. In 1927 after Frank Pick had been commissioning for 20 years he wrote:

"It may be supposed that their purpose is immediately directed to securing passengers. In some instances this has been the case, but in as many instances the purpose has been the establishment of goodwill and good understanding between the passengers and the companies. A transport service is continually open to criticism and much of the criticism arises from a lack of knowledge. Every passenger is a potential critic, many passengers are dynamic ones....

"Even when the purpose has been to secure passengers it has been the practice to proceed by indirect means. To create a feeling of restlessness, a distate for the immediate surroundings, to revive that desire for change, which all inherit from their barbarian ancestors."

Therefore much of early and even current London Underground posters show how far you can travel on the tube and show the wonderful places you can travel to, particularly when you are not doing your normal 9 to 5 daily commute.

Roger Fry, a leading art critic of the 1920's, was somewhat cynical about this route. He said that the Underground "build up in the public imagination an image of something almost personal - as such they begin to claim almost the loyalty and allegiance of the public they exploit. They produce in the public a non critical state of romantic enthusiasm for the line. More and more the whole thing takes on an air of romance and unreality."

In the 1920's the Underground was regularly producing over forty posters a year, by the fifties this had reduced to only seven or eight. By 1975 only four a year were being produced by artists and designers. However, by the mid eighties "Art on the Underground" was revived, if only as a way of filling up the blank unsold advertising space on the tube. Each year about six posters were commissioned with print runs of 6,000 each. If they were popular they were reprinted in smaller sizes and sold to the general public.

David Booth's The Tate Gallery by Tube (1986) proved to be one of the most popular posters and has been sold around the world. It was an advert for the Tate Gallery and shows a tube map being made from lines of paint squeezed from a paint tube with the tube logo and the word Pimlico on it (Pimlico is the nearest tube station to the Tate Gallery). By the 1990's advertising was being sold more agressively by TDI (now Viacom outdoor), so there were fewer of these "free" spaces. Even so, market research showed that the public liked these images which weren't hard sell and provided something everyone could enjoy. Now the London Transport museum is home to the great historic archives of the tube poster and is also the principal retail outlet for these posters.

My favourite tube ads from the book aren't really the ones that show the great places you can go (although they are good pieces of art in their own right). I find the more "tube propoganda" ones of greater interest.

This poster by Eric Kennington from the Second World War "Seeing it Through" series is particularly good. The 1944 series featured paintings of real London Underground staff who had carried out everyday acts of heroism during the war. The poem by A P Herbert which provided the caption for this is great:

"Thank you Mrs Porter,
For a good job stoutly done
Your voice is clear, and the Hun can hear
When you cry 'South Kensington'.
The world must hurry homeward,
The soldier on his way,
And the wheels whizz round on the Undergorund
At the voice of the girls in grey.
And though the skies are noisy
How calm the voices are
'Upminster Train! That man again! Pass further down the car!'"

I also like the ones from the 1920's as they remind me of Art Deco and men wearing bowler hats. People being physically drawn to the tube like magnets is an interesting concept these days. In this 1927 poster "The Lure of the Underground" by Alfred Leete (also responsible for the greatest First World War recruiting poster - "Your Country Needs You"), the people being "lured" to the tube have pleasant looks on their faces. It is hard to imagine this poster being commissioned today even though crowds of people approching a tube station still resemble the image of metal shavings being drawn to a magnet.

At least these posters had some life of their own and were more contemporary than the 2001 "Love Is" series of posters gracing the tube from a few years ago. The kitsch "Love Is" characters from the 1970's sweetly tell us to not eat smelly food, to keep our feet off the seats, to let old ladies sit down first, to move down the carriage and other pieces of tube etiquette. However, to me, they lack the punch of the earlier posters and makes me wonder why contemporary cartoonists were not used. To see some of the Love is Posters - not putting your feet on the seats, considering others when carrying luggage, not dropping litter and not eating smelly food.

Oliver Green concludes that the use of posters has come full circle and says that "the medium is still being put to thoughtful and creative use, brightening the daily travelling environment for millions of people in the biggest art gallery in the world."

A great companion book to Underground Art, is Pleasure Trips by Underground. This book focusses on posters from the 1910s-1930s promoting leisure travel on the tube (yes it is possible). With sections on topics from Sport to Shopping the poster curator of the London Transport Museum, Jonathan Riddell celebrates this artform. A definite must for all Tube fans.

For more on the history of London underground posters check out The London Transport Museum's page and Scott Carter's page on tube art.

Is the Underground missing out on potential ad revenue?

Could more tube advertising bring lower fares?

Dr Fred Ryland brought to my attention a brilliant form of advertising the other day which could bring in heaps of revenue for the tube. He said:

"I have just returned from a business trip to Budapest. When travelling on their metro there I was blown away (as were my fellow passengers) by the moving picture advertising they have in the tunnels. It was almost as if each carriage window had turned into a TV while in the tunnel. I have never seen anything like it before, and have used the underground all over the world at some time or other. I asked for more information at one of the stations and was amazed to find out that the technology for this unique form of advertising belongs to a British company. What amazed me was that they apparently have other sites in other countries and yet not a single one in the oldest underground in the world, London.

What more ads, you might be thinking. But if you're staring out of windows wouldn't you rather see something more interesting than black walls - particularly if it's helping to pay for the tube.

It's from a company called MotionPoster and they've developed a technology that projects pictures in tube tunnels and when the trains are speeding past it gives the impression of a motion picture. It's like a 21st century working of those old Victorian "what the butler saw" wind up machines on seaside piers.

So are we using this cutting edge technology? Are we, my arse? Budapest, Spain and several other countries in Europe are, but why not the London Underground?

According to an article in The Guardian from April 2000 "MotionPosters' chief executive, Michael Pelham, said it was in talks with TDI (now Viacom Outdoor), which manages Tube ads, as well as with railways in Hong Kong and Germany. He claimed an advert on a prime stretch of line would bring in more than £8,000 a month." That was in 2000 and knowing what Viacom charge for advertising I think £8,000 a month is a massive underestimate..

What's the story? Are LU turning away massive potential advertising potential? The opportunity of turning the underground into a "goldmine". I understand that there's a new cross track form of advertising on the way with potential for moving images at platforms, but this moving picture stuff in tunnels could be even more bucks and possibly ease the burden of fare hikes and help fund the tube.

Have your say in the new message forum here.

My Favourite ads on the tube

London Underground's "Poems on the Underground" campaign - brilliant in my opinion. Simple but thought provoking poems above people's seats. There's a website about them too. Or you can order or read the reviews for the book on the right through Amazon.co.uk. Or find out more about the full range of books, by putting "poems on the underground" in the search area when you click here. (There's also a great book of parodies of poems called Poems not on the Underground) which is about travelling on London Transport's buses and tubes and includes the poem "To tube or not to tube").

All the ones about coughs, cold and flu remedies. Effective, but slightly disconcerting as it reminds you you're in close proximity to people who have probably got coughs, colds and flu.

Now these ads are obviously beginning to have an effect, as apparently people are tired of seeing people coughing and snuffling on the tube.

In a new survey, travellers said that they would like to see people with colds wearing surgical masks. Now this is quite common in Japan (I've seen Japanese tourists wearing masks). However I would find it quite peculiar if London Underground staff were suddenly employed to strap Hannibal Lecter-style face masks onto people who were coughing and sneezing and spreading their germs around packed carriages. The Evening Standard newspaper felt that those with colds would rebel against such extreme measures, so that "maybe in the future we will all have to submit to face-protection on Tubes, healthy and otherwise, and public transport will have the glamour and mystery of a Venetian masked ball. With the added bonus of guranteed hygiene."

You'll probably notice that many ads on the tubes try to remind you that you are on it(who needs reminding!) and use tube imagery or try to make themselves look like maps of the underground.

My favourites of these are:

The Dateline ad - it's a classic for Bridget Jones (who you met on my first page). It is a drawing of a man and a woman passing on different escalators with the wonderful lines "Don't let love pass you by. The person you go past or the person sitting next to you could be your future partner". How romantic!

I wonder how many people ever met their partner on the Underground? Very few I would have thought, as no one normally even speaks to each other on the tube.

Here's a true story from Rachael Berstone from Australia who kindly left it in my guestbook:

I actually have friends who met on the Tube and are now married! It helps, I think, that he is French and she is Australian, so the rules about not talking to fellow passengers are somewhat relaxed for foreigners.

It all happened on the Picadilly line - she was going from home to a class at college in Russell Square, and he was travelling from his girlfriend's house to work. She was curious to see him reading (aloud, in French) excerpts from that very romantic play - Cyrano de Bergerac. He went past his stop to follow her, and invited her to go with him for coffee, on the spot. They did, and a few weeks later they met for dinner, and the rest is history.... now they are married, and live abroad with their three kids - which just goes to show, you can meet your future partner on the Tube!

Isn't that lovely! More stories like this please as it means the Tube isn't just a miserable underground sewer where no one speaks to each other!!!

Amazon.co.uk - (don't I plug them enough already?) The ad imitates a tube map with your "mouse" as your destination. "If you haven't got a book to read on the underground, visit us at the end of the line". I hate it when I haven't got a book for the tube, so this ad is particularly pertinent to me.

Kenco ads - They've been cleverly following on their sponsorship of High Street Kenco tube station with a series of ads. Some show coffee beans as the gravel that lies between the tracks on the underground. Some show focus on the area between a spoonful of coffee and its waiting cup with "Mind the Gap" in the middle.

A jar of passata (creamed tomatoes - for the non cooks amongst you) - I'm not sure what the brand is. But it shows the jar zooming along like a tube with the caption "Calling at Pisa or Rome or Bologna or some other Italian town".

Please give me any more suggestions through the guestbook!

My first suggestion from the guestbook comes from Rupert in London

"My favourite adverts on the tube are the hilarious Admiral Car Insurance ones, featuring Tim and Louise. They're the ones with library pictures accompanied by a few lines of dialogue, ingeniously combining the 'story' of Tim and Louise's relationship with the benefits of Admiral insurance. I think that the creators of the campaign have caught onto the fact that commuters take the piss out of the ads, as the most recent installments have been considerably more tongue-in-cheek than their predecessors. One of the funniest tube journeys that I have ever been on featured a young couple reading the adverts aloud."

Thanks Rupert, they're some of my personal favourites too!!

Favourite ads about the tube

The London Underground itself has been featured on a number of ads. This old TV ad was a particular favourite of mine.

I think it was for Lynx deodorant or certainly for some male deodorant.

The ad begins with a shot of a man and a woman standing very close to each other on a tube. The woman is pressing herself up against the man and staring into his eyes. They are both hanging on those little hangy things from the ceiling of the tube. The train is rattling around and they are still hanging on with the woman still pressed up against the man. Slowly the camera pans back, and you see that the rest of the carriage only has a couple of other people in it, with lots of free seats. Wearing Lynx makes you so irresistible that people will press themselves against you for no othergood reason!

There was also an ad for National Lottery game Thunderball on TV. It's shot as though on the London Underground and this big red ball comes roaring through the tunnel with a rat looking really suprised and scurrying out of the way. I suppose it's never seen anything move that fast before!

PS Aren't newgroups great? No sooner had I posted a message about this ad on uk.transport.london that John Rowland let us have his theory that this ad was shot on the Heathrow Express. Thanks John, there's some good maps on his site too.

Do you have a favourite ad about the Underground Please let me know through the guestbook!

Look before you sit - because ads above your head can be dangerous!!!

I bet you've never really bothered to look at the ads above your head before you sit down. I remember some underground advertising that got you to try to think about what was going on inside the head of the person sitting beneath the ad. This can be a rather disturbing hobby. But don't take it too far or you might end up in trouble, as the following cautionary tale shows:

A young woman boarded a bus while highly pregnant. She was very conscious about people around her. She noticed a young man looking at her and smiling. She felt humiliated and moved to a different seat, which only broadened the man's smile. She moved again, and on her fourth move he burst out laughing. She complained to the driver who called the police, and the man was arrested.

When the case came before the court the judge gave the man the opportunity to defend his rude behaviour. He explained his action this way: "When the lady boarded the bus I couldn't help noticing that she was pregnant. She sat under an advertisement which read 'Coming soon: The Gold Dust Twins', then she moved under one which read 'Sloans' Liniments Remove Swellings'".

"I was even more amused when she sat under a shaving ad which read: 'William Stick Did The Trick'. I'm sorry, but I couldn't control myself any longer when, on the fourth move, she sat under an advertisement which read: 'Dunlop Rubber Would Have Prevented this Accident'".

The judge found him not guilty!!!

Story reprinted by kind permission of Routes, The Sequel, by Heinz Hammer, on the net at: http://routesinternational.com

Favourite Links and where to go next

	Home page Also you can view the guestbook on this page.
	Poems on the Underground Have a look at some of the poems featured on the London Underground's campaign which has been running since 1986. Don't forget you can order the books through Amazon.co.uk.
	Viacom Outdoor - formerly TDI Media The lovely folks responsible for all the ads you see in the Underground. They sell the space. If you want to advertise on the tube get in touch with them. Music on the Underground My page about buskers and other music on the tube
	Tubespotting or Celebs on the tube or becoming a celebrity on the tube Have you seen any celebrities on the tube? And find out about a new TV series about travelling on the tube. Plus clothes to wear on the tube to make you look like a celebrity.
	Etiquette on the tube Another page of my site. How to get by on the tube. When to give up your seat! How to annoy people!
	Stop the Pigeon Find out about other "intelligent" creatures that regularly use the Underground.
	Food on the Underground If you want to find out where to eat on the Underground and whether or not cheese and onion crisps should be banned from the tube, visit this page. PS Cadbury's won't be too keen on this page, so bang goes my chance of trying to get sponsorship out of them!!
	Books for the Underground Reviews of fiction about the Underground, plus a really dark poem, plus "Bridget Jones's Tube Diary" - don't miss it.

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