Blue is not a macho color. The only macho colors are black and camouflage.
Sorry to quote myself, but I ran out of time on edit. At any rate, Whois.net shows the obay.com domain name as belonging to Overstock.com. Apparently it was a name they briefly considered, then thought better of.
They’re also popping up in Toronto proper. In the last few days, I spotted them on several TTC ad spots in the east end, including buses and streetcars, as well as a couple of shelters.
Huh. Apparently there is a toll-free number, 1-888-YOU-OBAY, that features a recorded message, a transcript of which reads:
Curiouser and curiouser.
I really really hope it’s us. That campaign is cool.
Well, I just now called that number, and what I heard was a series of short bursts of static, or what sounded like insects buzzing, without any human speech to it at all.
Most peculiar.
If I had to guess (WAG), I’d say Parents Against TeenScreen.
Sounds anti-ritalin/adderall/add/adhd to me. As in don’t medicate kids just becuase they misbehave, think for themselves or have different ideals then you. That’s my guess anyways.
When an ad is this confusing, a ‘sequel’ ad tends to show up a month or so later that explains it.
The Torontoist says it’s part of a campaign to promote local colleges, although I don’t see the smoking gun.
Saw one on the subway just now.
Picture: a smiling father and son.
Text: My kids used to have their own dreams and aspirations. Now they have mine. Thanks, Obay[sup]TM[/sup]!
Then there’s a picture of a drug bottle (“Obay 50mg”) and a rendered graphic of a green rhomboid pill.
I’ve been seeing these on and around Burlington transit. No Hamilton sightings just yet.
Posted a bit too soon, it seems. Today on the way down to my writer’s club meeting, there was a bit OBAY ad on the side of the King street bus.
And another one on the subway today. It was a subway version of the bus-shelter ad pictured in the Torontoist article.
Saw my first one on the subway today. Smiling father and son, message something like “My son was getting ideas of his own. OBAY stopped that.” Definitely was attracting attention – bunch of young people looking at it, one took a picture on his cellphone.
If it’s a culture jam, there’s some serious kilobucks behind it.
I saw one on a bus in Waterloo on Friday. I did a double-take when I saw it.
Yeah, I don’t know what the TTC charges for space, but I know you don’t see people advertising their used bikes on it.
Reminds me of a similarly effective ad campaign in Berlin ages ago. In the subway one morning, I see a huge photo of about 5 totally nude men, full frontal, but the men had been sprayed head to toe with white paint. Still, the billboard left nothing to the imagination.
The Germans looked at it and then went about their daily business (in the US, there would have been a major uproar).
So, I look at these nude dudes on every subway wall all over Berlin for about 5 weeks - no words on the sign, nothing.
Then about 5 1/2 weeks later, there are the same guys, but this time a full color photo of them all bare-chested, but wearing [name-brand] jeans. The text said something like, “men look sexier in [name brand] jeans”.
The ad was very effective.
I’ve been seeing them in Hamilton for about a week now.