Advertising in MKE: Part Two

My favorite thing about public transit in Milwaukee is the PBR buses. There are several buses in the city that are covered in Pabst Blue Ribbon art and it's a great way to advertise the Milwaukee-favorite and beautify the buses. The designs are creative, some being murals depicting the beverage and others done in the pop art style made famous by Andy Warhol. What's great about it is that it doesn't feel like an ad campaign, instead, it seems as if someone wanted to make city buses interesting to look at.   

photo courtesy http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/milwaukee?before=1299447666

Not only do these buses target a population known for it's beer drinking habits (college students and Wisconsinites alike), they say something about the culture of Milwaukee. The city is known for it's largely blue-collar roots and PBR has been a part of that, with the Pabst Brewing Company being founded in Milwaukee in 1844. I'm not sure whether any other city would allow buses to be covered in murals depicting an alcoholic beverage, but it's definitely easy to see why Milwaukee would; whether it's good or bad, drinking is a major part of Milwaukee culture. 

While I was unable to figure out exactly how the partnership between the Milwaukee County Transit System and Pabst started, it's obvious that the buses have made an impact. A Google search yields pictures of the buses and I've seen pictures of the buses being snapped by numerous people. Plus, it's always exciting when you're at the bus stop and the PBR bus pulls up!

Advertising in MKE: Part One

Every day when I leave my apartment, I walk past the bus stop outside of Straz. For the past few months, this image has adorned the side of the bus shelter: 

It's by no means a pretty advertisement and is instead meant to be shocking. It's a part of the Center for Disease Control's newest "Tips from a Former Smoker" campaign and signs depicting people that have had lungs removed, legs amputated, heart surgery and more smoke-related issues have popped up all around Milwaukee. There are also commercials on television, so it's hard to miss the ads if you're living in the city. 

These advertisements are going for the shock value that they create. Seeing something as graphic as a stoma on your afternoon stroll may make you think twice about picking up a cigarette later and that's exactly what the CDC is aiming to do. 


According to a Washington Post article, the ads came shortly after the FDA mandate for graphic warnings on cigarette packaging was declared unconstitutional and the CDC has spent $54 million on the campaign. 


Ads like this were unheard of in the past, in fact, cigarettes were marketed as sexy due to the lack of knowledge of the health repercussions, but more and more graphic ads are popping up depicting these dangers.   


It's interesting to see a national ad campaign so close to home--literally a block from my apartment--and how they differ from advertisements in the past.