The company I work for is redesigning their website and incorporating an employee blog. The blog is up and running while the new site is being designed and tweaked and all employees are invited to contribute. We are told that content will be posted unedited and the subject matter can be anything. While most are posting about design-related issues or the economy I don’t think it would be appropriate to post there about guys on trains or bitching about my commute. So here’s my first contribution:

There is a gasoline energy company whose new ad campaign has taken over the South Capitol Metro Station. The aim of the campaign is to move the consumer’s perception of the company from a gasoline company to an “energy provider”. 

The components of the campaign feature headshot closeups of the perfectly (think: Benetton) racially-mixed group of models, who are looking thoughtfully concerned into the camera. Typeset in a handwritten-font are phrases like “I will leave the car at home more” and “I will unplug things more”. Pretty bland and trite copy, if you ask me. As if people taking Metro would actually choose to triple their commute time or unplugging a 30-watt lamp is going to really make a difference. I’m all for turning off the lights in a room you’re not in, but unplugging the television everytime I turn it off? Not going to happen.

But I think where the ball really gets dropped is the way the energy provider has bought out all of the ad space (and more) of the station. It’s in all the typical places, the backlit dioramas and wall posters. But it’s also wrapped around the concrete columns. It’s on floor decals that are larger than my living room. It’s on vinyl banners hanging from the handrails. The effect is very Disney-esque; it’s overload. I’ve seen this happen before with the South Cap station, but it is usually focused on some Congressional legislation that the purchaser is trying to get passed. As if the people voting under the dome take public transportation to work.

UPDATE: Actually, the more I read this, it seems a little too negative to be putting up on the work blog.