Guerilla Ad on Redline T subway car

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

What initially caught my eye on this 'ad' were the numerous typos but I think the concept was cool. The text of the poster encourages riders to initiate conversation with fellow passengers and attempt to connect with other humans rather than sit idly by and stare at ads for the duration of the ride. Personally it's hard for me to take lessons in morality from people who can't distinguish between your and you're but I give them an A for effort. Did anyone else see this, or know anything about the origin?

Comments

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

Do you have a bigger picture so we can read it? The text is too small to read from the picture.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

I meant to add "sorry for the crappy picture." It was taken with my crappy cell phone camera. That's why I was hoping someone else had seen it.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

The text of the poster encourages riders to initiate conversation with fellow passengers and attempt to connect with other humans rather than sit idly by and stare at ads for the duration of the ride.

i'm not one for vandalism but if i saw these i'm not sure i could resist tearing them down. the LAST thing i want is strangers talking to me on the T. this is why i like driving. i can have time just by myself, not to mention most run ins with strangers where i've tried to placate them and be nice have ended with them being a total creep.

ugh. seriously, most people like being left alone.

[mutedhopes.livejournal.com]

especially at 7:00am on your way to work. please do not talk to me before i've had my breakfast.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Agreed, human interaction is nice and all but transit-time is a period of quiet introspection for a lot of us. This is one of the things I hate the most about Greenpeace with their shady activists who periodically come out to berate you unless you sign or donate something for them.

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

I like to read on the T. The last thing I want is someone trying to talk to me when I'm knee-deep in Harry Potter or whatever. I guess I'm what's wrong with society. :)

[agnosticoracle.livejournal.com]

Personally it's hard for me to take lessons in morality from people who can't distinguish between your and you're

I've got to wonder, do you have a problem taking grammatical advice from people who can't do basic calculus? The problem with spelling flames isn't that they correct people's spelling. It is the underlying assumption that ability to spell has some correlation to morality.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

totally agreed.

what i really hate is this "sit idly by" bullshit that's a cheap thinly veiled shot at people, as if i never talk to anyone at all, ever because i'm so shut off from society.

look, i fucking interact with people all damn day, and i go out with my friends at night. i don't need annoyance from strangers that are usually crazy or trying to get my money [or both] during my one chance for quiet.

[wonkywheels.livejournal.com]

I wish I had a bigger version so I could add it to my blog about bad punctuation.

[fanw.livejournal.com]

I don't care if Joe Q Pedestrian can spell or do calculus, but if someone is serious about trying to send a message via the print medium, I expect them to bother to spell check. Likewise, I expect my electrician to know the basics of circuitry and my plumber to plumb, but that doesn't mean I think Joe Q Pedestrian is any worse off morally or otherwise for not knowing circuitry, spelling, or calculus.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Not taking the time to edit a public message = disregard for effective communication, in my opinion.

If someone can't be bothered to present their arguments in accurate, coherent language, they lose their opportunity to lecture me about how I don't interact with my fellow T passengers or whatever the fuck they're rabbiting on about.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

while i don't think spelling ability [whether poor or excellent] relates to morality, as a designer i look at something like this and think "gee, they didn't even care enough to have someone look it over for five seconds first."

and, as such, i care less about what they're trying to tell me.

i mean, i wouldn't send a resume or cover letter full of sloppy spelling and grammatical errors to a potential employer and expect them to take me seriously as a professional, would you?

[mperrotti76.livejournal.com]

Sou... You ride here often?

[agnosticoracle.livejournal.com]

Watching spelling flamers try to justify themselves is amusing. Cause you know, I never said poor spelling doesn't make a message less effective or that you shouldn't spell check a resume. I'm merely pointing out that implying a correlation between morality and spelling ability (which the post I'm responding to did) is wrong. I might further add that doing so distracts from whatever other message the author was trying to make.

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

please don't talk to me on the T!

that is all.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

I have a problem taking morality advice from people who can't do basic calculus.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Agreed! I am very much an extrovert, but even I like my quiet time on the T.

[agnosticoracle.livejournal.com]

But my question was about "taking grammatical advice from people who can't do basic calculus." Clearly, anyone without basic calculus would be at a disadvantage using John Stuart Mill's "moral calculus." =)

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

I'll take grammatical advice from anyone, provided they at least know the difference between your and you're. And I'm willing to take morality advice from illiterate people, from this day forward. Your point about correlation is well taken.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

I never said I'd refuse lessons in morality from people with bad grammar, I said people who can't distinguish your and you're. You should learn to read more clearly.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, I totally snapped at one of the Greenpeace activists yesterday. He took it admirably well but seriously, what part of "your job is accosting people on the street even if they are going out of their way to not make eye contact with you" does not scream "asshole"?

I am actually charmed by many random interactions with strangers, but both strangers should clearly be interested in interacting first.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

That was not the point of my statement, though perhaps it's my fault you misinterpreted my point.

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

I hate moralizing critiques of consumer culture that fail to recognize that people are doing what they are doing for good reasons, reasons that reflect the structure of the society in which they are trying to live and make a living.

That assumes that you want the same things they want, or at least, would want the same things they want if you were enlightened enough.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

While I find the basic concept amusing, it's not consumerism keeping me from speaking to random strangers: it's MANNERS.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Wow. When you put up comments like that, it's time to log off.