You know, I don’t take Transit TV lightly. If you don’t use MARTA then you have no idea how irritating it is to see the same ads for 20ColegioEnPJs.com and a pyramid scheme run by the sheriff from Murder, She Wrote that involves selling $60 novelty sail boat lamps, over and over in a screen right in front of your face when all you want to do is just get to work without eye contact from the Jesus Greaser.
But I endure Transit TV because I understand MARTA’s got to pay the bills and no one in our sleazy state legislature is going to do that for them, and I also understand that those temper tantrums I was throwing in my car by the time I got to mile two of my three mile commute every morning was no way to live my life. And if the All-American Rejects’ record company is going to keep my trains running every ten minutes by playing the video for their new single on an endless loop with the sound off for a week straight, then whatever.
Then I saw a bit in a NY Times article about rising public transit ridership and declining state and local budgets to meet this need. Emphasis mine:
Beverly A. Scott, general manger of Marta, the Atlanta system, said as the sales tax revenue continued to drop, she was weighing everything from fare increases to service cuts to even selling the naming rights to stations — but she still hopes for more state support.
I hadn’t heard of this possible move yet in any of the other coverage of MARTA’s financial desperation. I had heard that MARTA might totally cut my bus route sometime this summer though, the thought of which immediately fills me with all the anxiety of three months’ worth of sweaty road rage. You know what, I will be happy to take a bus with a wraparound ad for Attorney Ken “One Call, That’s All” Nugent on the “DeVry University at Cobb Galleria” bus route pumping Snuggies commericals in Spanish on Transit TV, and get off at the “Fruitopia Strawberry Passion Awareness Station” every day to not have to rake my car over Midtown’s perpetually corrugated roads. I am not going to be like some outraged 30 Rock fan crying about McFlurry product placement when MARTA totally sells out. 
Actually, I hope this naming rights scheme does happen, and I hope Tyler Perry, in a fit of the grandest egomania yet, buys the rights to all the stations so he can be honored at 37 Tyler Perry’s MARTA Stations by Tyler Perry. Each one could be named after a movie he made in 2008.
Previously: I demand MARTA fashion
Tags: marta, mcflurry, sheriff amos tupper, transit tv, tyler perry's rapid transit authority
I normally ride MARTA with headphones on and my nose in a book, so I’ve missed a lot of these apparently delightful commercials. The only one that ever seems to be on when I look up is for some kind of nightclub. It features the proprietors, a gentleman and his young lady, speaking very earnestly to the camera. The guy is wearing a red skull cap. I think the woman is wearing red, too. The man nods a lot. It appears to be very convincing, whatever it is they are selling.
I am usually quite relieved when Transit TV notifies me of the weather forecast for spring training baseball games in Arizona that I’ll never see.
Also, it creeps me out a little when the TV is silent for half of the time, then the volume goes way up when discussing anything involving Easy Credit.
Chris, the club is called the Crow’s Nest and it’s on Old National Highway. The flash the website at the end of the commercial, but I can never remember it.
The ads’ collective impact can be seen, unless that Snuggie-bundled Mexican woman actually was just a transit-friendly wizard. Which would be even better.
What?!! I’ve never seen a Crow’s Nest commercial. You guys are liars!
Damn you, nonbeliever! I’ve spent half my work day trying to dig up a copy of this ad.
Here’s what I’ve found:
The official name of the place is the “Crowe’s Nest Mega Plex”. I don’t know how they can feature a web site on their commercial, since apparently no such web site exists. Maybe that’s why they flash it so briefly.
Disappointingly, I’ve only found an old advertisement online. It’s not as good as the one that runs on MARTA. Here’s the link to it:
Making up for this disappointment to some extent, I’ve uncovered a video shot at Crowe’s Nest featuring a guy named “New York Nick”, a fashion show, and some groovy editing techniques.
Here’s the link to that:
Hopefully, this evidence is enough to silence your skepticism about the infamous “Crowe’s Nest Mega Plex”.
Wow, Chris, those are awesome.
I was wrong, they flash the website in the middle. Here’s the commercial that airs on MARTA:
http://america2broadcasting.com/videos.htm
…should pop up automatically.
Lain, which video is it? I can’t find it.
Thank you, Christa, for inspiring us to waste so much time in this effort.
For me the commercial just pops up automatically. I didn’t have to pick a video. I’m using Firefox 3 on a Mac, if that helps.
Ahh, Firefox. That did it. Thanks!