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American Morning

Subway Tunnel Walls Offer New Advertising Medium

Aired June 24, 2002 - 09:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: If you are one of the millions in this country who commute in big city subway systems, you might be used to seeing graffiti on the tunnel walls. Well now, someone has figured out a way to turn subway tunnels into a new advertising medium.

Who better to explore the tunnel vision today than Jeanne Moos here in New York?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another boring ride in the Subway, staring blankly at pitch black tunnel walls. Suddenly...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I glimpsed it, I looked at it, and said, "what is that?"

MOOS: Used to be they made movies about the Subway.

But, now there are movies in the Subway. Actually, it's an ad for Target, the first such ad in New York, premiering on the PATH train that transports commuters between New York and New Jersey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's amazing. It's really awesome. It's eye-catching.

MOOS: Of course, it doesn't take much to catch your eye in a subterranean dead zone, virgin territory for a company called Submedia.

JOSHUA SPODEK, CEO, SUBMEDIA: You and I will see a little bit of slitiness.

MOOS: Each slit acts as a shutter. Behind each slit is a compressed image.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you see here are the individual frames.

MOOS: Two hundred back lit boxes like this installed on the wall of a subway tunnel make for a 20-second ad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought, well, that's novel. Somebody painted the wall. Then, it moved and it moved...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just came at me. It was a real shock, actually. I thought it was neat, like one of those flip-book things.

MOOS: An apt analogy, says Submedia's CEO, Joshua Spodek. Spodek has a PhD in astrophysics, but he was inspired by a toy known as a zoetrope.

SPODEK: I can play with this forever.

MOOS: When you spin it and look through the slits, the images are animated.

SPODEK: And I thought, is there any reason why this wouldn't work if it was straight?

MOOS: It took three years to refine the technology. Now, it's being used for bottled-water ads in the Philadelphia and Atlanta subways. New York's first ad even got a smattering of applause from the hard-to-impress press.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I think it is terrific idea. One place we could use more advertising, because the subway walls -- the tunnels are so ugly.

MOOS: Though the ads got rave reviews...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I give it four stars.

MOOS: There is always a critic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They could have put something more creative, something more artistic, not just another ad to bombarded...

MOOS: Pedestrians could be bombarded next. The technology can be adapted for slower speeds, alongside moving walkways or escalators.

SPODEK: You can walk past and see the animation very easily.

MOOS: The subway flick may be an ad -- but it could end up being a hit, a summer sleeper.

(on camera): You're missing the movie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

MOOS: The movie.

(voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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