“That’s one small step for man…” no, wait. Wrong thing. I was always terrible with Star Trek; hardly watched it.
However, I can appreciate the noise generated around the latest instalment in the never-ending sci-fi series, Star Trek: Picard, which is launching this week on Amazon Prime Video, featuring Sir Patrick Stewart back in the eponymous role. (Remember when he got into that tiff with James Corden?)
Anyway, last week Piccadilly Circus in central London was fully rebranded for two days to launch the series, including station announcements from Captain Picard (Stewart), advising people to “take care when using stairs, escalators or transporters”.
The Zone 1 station was rebranded 'PICARDilly Circus', with posters, signage and directions from the ticket hall through to the platforms specially rebranded.
Very clever, and pricey, way to attract attention. Wonder how much it cost Amazon…? Think they’ll probably have enough, in fairness.
This is not the first time TfL’s estate has been utilised in such a way, with a Lego bus stop celebrating 60 years of the Routemaster, Buxton Water taking over Canada Water station in 2015, and Gareth Southgate station after the 2018 football World Cup.
Hopefully, this might spark some thoughts of partnerships and takeovers in your area. What do you think of them? Have you seen other good examples? Are they cringey or clever? Let me know in the comments below.
Thanks to Famous Campaigns/The Drum for information and pics.