The Submedia outdoor-advertising company in Manhattan specializes in
subway-tunnel advertising systems. One of its newest offerings is a
series of lightboxes designed to hold sequences of images and create the
illusion of an animated commercial every time the subway train moves
passengers past the displays at a speed greater than 5 mph. When images
are placed in two hundred 3- x 3-ft lightboxes side-by-side between
stations, advertisers can produce a 15- to 30-second commercial that
piques the interest of bored commuters.
Submedia's first installation was in Atlanta in 2001. Working with the
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), Submedia showcased
Coca-Cola's Dasani bottled water-branding campaign in a 1000-ft long
display that generated a 20-second animation.
SideTrack Technologies is another company showcasing an in-tunnel subway
advertising system. Instead of using lightboxes, SideTrack mounts lights
over metal frames mounted on the tunnel wall. The frames run the length
of the advertisement, enclosing several hundred digitally printed images
running side by side for a 15-second promotion. SideTrack chose the 1.8-
x 2.2-ft size frames because they mimicked the aspect ratio for
television, making it more cost effective for the company's clients to
adapt their existing TV spots. “This way we can use already existing
film content in our displays,” says Rob Walker, company co-founder.
SideTrack's first installation was in Malaysia's PUTRA (Projek Usahasama
Transit Ringan Automatik Sdn Bhd) in Kuala Lampur. (Submedia:
www.sub-media.com; Sidetrack Technologies: 877-258-3988,
www.sidetracktechnologies.com)