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Videos: Revisit The Hilarious, Self-Loathing MTA Ads Of The 1980s
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 16, 2012
Modified Nov 16, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 16, 2012
Modified Nov 16, 2012
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Over the last couple weeks, the MTA has released a series of highly watchable floodporn videos showing just how badly Sandy flooded various subways in lower Manhattan. But once upon a time, the MTA wasn't quite as savvy when it came to its image. Below, you can check out a series of hilarious, honest, self-deprecating, and altogether awesome MTA ads from 1989.
In between the welding shot and thick accents, you may notice that there seems to be a common theme throughout the ads: "They're working very hard...you have to be patient," said two older ladies in Woodside. "Granted, they could be cleaner. Communication could be better if something's not working," one woman notes, while another says: "They are working on it; they're doing the best they can!" It seems the MTA's campaign was based around the tried-and-true concept please dear god, give us a break already, at least we're still running.
And for good measure, below are three more MTA videos from the 80s. The first one (which we revisited before) is an ad for the JFK express train, in which they force people to awkwardly sing "train to the plane." In the second, the MTA puts on some sweet synth mood music to get across the point that graffiti is not an art. And the last one is a recruitment video for the MTA, which includes lots of testimonials from transit workers.
Tagged
ads
MTA
self-deprecating
self-loathing
subway
transit
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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