Wed 6 September 2006 - Inconsiderate, or thoughtless? Vague, or obtuse?
I’m no fan of Connex’s obtuse “Don’t Hold Others Back” campaign. Some of the TV ads make no sense when seen in isolation: you have to go to the web site to find out what it’s about. Of those that have ready web access, how many people would bother? Some advertising people will probably win an award for it.
At least the billboards at least make it reasonably clear what the message is.
Then of course there’s the message itself. Connex’s own statistics show passengers cause a minority of delays to trains. (I can’t find the stat right now, but from memory it was something like 20%.) I’m not about to claim there aren’t people out there who deliberately hold doors and things cause delays, but most people don’t, and I somehow doubt those that do will be convinced to stop by these ads.
Then of course there are other methods of being inconsiderate, this guy in a sopping coat on the train this morning:
He probably rendered the seat unusable for the next hour or so. Wouldn’t be that hard to either take the coat off before sitting, or stand for the three stops. Given the amount of water on him I find it hard to believe he didn’t realise.