Most interesting bus advertisements from around the world
Bus advertising is one of the most interesting and effective forms of OOH advertising. It allows reaching a wide audience, increases campaign conversion rates, and, above all, reaches target groups more precisely. A creatively designed campaign stays in the audience’s memory, which enhances brand recognition. Bus advertisements are popular worldwide, and there are many executions that have become very popular. That’s why we’ve created our (subjective) ranking of the best campaigns implemented on public transport vehicles from around the world.
📌Visa and the Giant Crab
In New Zealand, in 2011, during a culinary festival, its organizers – along with the main partner, the Visa brand, designed an advertisement on trolleybuses. The aim of the advertisement was to promote the contest and the festival. Each trolleybus had special cables connecting the vehicle to the power grid. This time, the cables in the vehicle imitated the antennae of a crab. On part of the bus, we can see the rest of the crab, which somewhat protrudes beyond the vehicle.
Source of the image: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/giant-lobster-bus
📌National Geographic and the Shark Jaw
In 2005, National Geographic advertised its television broadcasting channel. The campaign aimed to attract viewers to their TVs. The campaign was planned on buses, and the main character was a shark. What’s surprising is that the shark’s jaw was placed on the doors. Every time they opened, it looked like the shark was devouring passengers.
Source: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/bus-32e787ba-0a5d-4505-bf5d-10e065cf0624
📌 Domestos – Would you sit in this bus?
This time a campaign from Iran from 2010. The advertisement promoting Domestos cleaning products, which kill bacteria, was not only creatively designed graphically but also had an interesting slogan. To encourage travelers to buy the advertised products, the advertisers asked passengers, “Would you sit in such a bus?” The question was ambiguous because on the roof of the bus, two frightened bacteria were sitting. They were afraid of the cleaning agent, which was made in 3D form. It must be admitted that this is a really interesting execution. However, was the advertisement really on target, suggesting that there are too many germs on the bus? 😉
Source: https://adsspot.me/media/ambient/domestos-bus-19b0452f746e
📌 Netflix: Stranger Things
In total, one could wonder if one of the most popular series of recent years needs advertising, but the question is rhetorical 😉 To remind the world about the new season of “Stranger Things”, Netflix ordered an advertisement on the famous London double-deckers. Using the concept known from the series “the upside down”, they placed the advertisement… upside down. Every detail was carefully considered, as you can see that the sticker also includes a pattern of wheels that ended up on the bus railing on its roof. An additional feature was the glowing orange inscription with the series logo on a black background.
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/best-bus-advertising-big-john-the-bus-man/
📌 Copenhagen and the Snake Squeezing the Bus
A very well-designed advertisement that looks very realistic. It was ordered by the Copenhagen Zoo, which wanted to attract not only tourists but also city residents. As part of the advertisement, the entire bus was covered with a colorful sticker with the image of a snake coiling around the bus. It could have been just another ordinary advertisement, but thanks to the perfect graphics, it seemed like the snake was squeezing the bus. A graphic masterpiece because the snake looks real. Against the yellow background, only the red inscription “zoo” stood out, and below it was the slogan: “The wildest place in Copenhagen”. It was the first in a series of advertisements for the Copenhagen zoo visible on public transport vehicles.
Source: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/snake-bus
📌 Netflix: Bloody Bus
Another Netflix series you’ll find in our ranking is “All of us are dead”. The campaign was carried out in Thailand on a specially prepared bus. The series tells the story of a zombie attack in a school. Therefore, a specially prepared school bus was rented for the advertisement. Instead of windows, it was equipped with LED screens that displayed excerpts from the series… unfortunately, the bloody ones. Additionally, the entire bus was wrapped in such a way that it looked all bloodied. Just broadcasting drastic scenes during the day arouses a lot of emotions, but Netflix decided to heat up the atmosphere even more. During each bus stop, actors hired specifically for this purpose ran out of the bus to passers-by and between cars, supposedly attacked in the vehicle by zombies. Netflix’s advertisement met with a lot of criticism due to showing inappropriate content for minors during the day in public places, and additionally due to posing a danger in road traffic. What do you think about this campaign?
Source: https://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/artykul/zakrwawione-autobusy-serial-all-of-us-are-dead-netflix-promocja
1. Tchibo Mobile Café in Warsaw
A few years ago, as Be Media, we had the opportunity to carry out an amazing ambient campaign in which we used a classic English double-decker bus. We invited Warsaw residents to the Tchibo mobile café. Anyone who wanted could enter the bus, ride around the center of Warsaw, and enjoy a cup of aromatic and delicious Tchibo coffee. The bus was wrapped from the outside in the colors of the Tchibo brand, which allowed to attract the attention of every passerby and passing drivers.
In our portfolio, we have a significantly larger number of bus campaign executions. We have access to bus depots in the largest Polish cities. Thanks to this, you have the opportunity to advertise your brand in various parts of Poland. Such ambient advertising is very effective, but of course, traditional transit advertising is equally effective. It involves fully or partially wrapping buses. Below you can see our sample executions ↓
