by One of One-Sixty
Bubble gum not included.
SEPTA's new line: Trading cards
By Dawn Fallik
Inquirer Staff Writer
Want to rekindle those warm feelings of the seven-day SEPTA strike?
How about a nice picture of bus driver Joann Nuttle for your wallet?
Or a snapshot of conductor R.D. Murray in your cubicle?
Ah, precious memories, thanks to a $600,000 SEPTA ad campaign
featuring employee trading cards and expressions of Philly loving.
Conductors detail the finer points of cheesesteaks wit (and witout),
and drivers wax poetic about gravy "cooked all Sunday morning after
church." Collect them all!
"The ad campaign offers a unique sample of the language, traditions
and 'ad-di-tude' (sic) that is 'Genuine Philly,' " says a SEPTA news
release.
Riders, still smarting from a week of thwarted commutes and snarled
traffic, had their own "ad-di-tude" to offer.
"It's probably the biggest waste of money, considering how
cash-strapped SEPTA is already," said Joshua A. Kruger, a financial
assistant. "Who wants to collect cards of their favorite 'Move to the
back to make room' announcer?"
The campaign, which includes television and bus ads, started Oct. 10
but was put on pause during the strike. The 50,000 trading cards came
out this week, and a second set, with a new batch of brotherly love,
arrives in winter.
The cards come with the purchase of a token or a rail pass, and they
include a 10 percent discount at some Reading Terminal Market
vendors, said Rich DiLullo, SEPTA director of marketing and
advertising.
"It expresses the fact that SEPTA is the thread that binds the fabric
of the region together," he said. "We're proud of our employees and
think they do a fantastic job and want to bring them to the light of
the public."
SEPTA held an open call for its employees, asking them for their
thoughts on the city they drive in (or don't) on a daily basis.
One star, Angel Davila, 40, a bus driver on a Franklin Mills mall
route, was signing autographs and getting mocked for his newfound
celebrity by fellow drivers Friday.
On Davila's card, he discusses how "the curse" of building
skyscrapers higher than the statue of Billy Penn turned Philadelphia
into a sports-championship-starved city.
"We got to start shaving some height off those structures and we'll
start winning championships," Davila said on the way to his job.
And then, in true Philly fashion, he spit in the face of the curse.
"I guarantee that even with the love-hate relationship this city has
with the Phillies, I will put money down that the Phillies are going
to win a championship next year."
Post a question for Dawn Fallik at http://go.philly.com/askdawn.
Contact her at 215-854-2795 or [email protected].
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13147582.htm
SEPTA's new line: Trading cards
By Dawn Fallik
Inquirer Staff Writer
Want to rekindle those warm feelings of the seven-day SEPTA strike?
How about a nice picture of bus driver Joann Nuttle for your wallet?
Or a snapshot of conductor R.D. Murray in your cubicle?
Ah, precious memories, thanks to a $600,000 SEPTA ad campaign
featuring employee trading cards and expressions of Philly loving.
Conductors detail the finer points of cheesesteaks wit (and witout),
and drivers wax poetic about gravy "cooked all Sunday morning after
church." Collect them all!
"The ad campaign offers a unique sample of the language, traditions
and 'ad-di-tude' (sic) that is 'Genuine Philly,' " says a SEPTA news
release.
Riders, still smarting from a week of thwarted commutes and snarled
traffic, had their own "ad-di-tude" to offer.
"It's probably the biggest waste of money, considering how
cash-strapped SEPTA is already," said Joshua A. Kruger, a financial
assistant. "Who wants to collect cards of their favorite 'Move to the
back to make room' announcer?"
The campaign, which includes television and bus ads, started Oct. 10
but was put on pause during the strike. The 50,000 trading cards came
out this week, and a second set, with a new batch of brotherly love,
arrives in winter.
The cards come with the purchase of a token or a rail pass, and they
include a 10 percent discount at some Reading Terminal Market
vendors, said Rich DiLullo, SEPTA director of marketing and
advertising.
"It expresses the fact that SEPTA is the thread that binds the fabric
of the region together," he said. "We're proud of our employees and
think they do a fantastic job and want to bring them to the light of
the public."
SEPTA held an open call for its employees, asking them for their
thoughts on the city they drive in (or don't) on a daily basis.
One star, Angel Davila, 40, a bus driver on a Franklin Mills mall
route, was signing autographs and getting mocked for his newfound
celebrity by fellow drivers Friday.
On Davila's card, he discusses how "the curse" of building
skyscrapers higher than the statue of Billy Penn turned Philadelphia
into a sports-championship-starved city.
"We got to start shaving some height off those structures and we'll
start winning championships," Davila said on the way to his job.
And then, in true Philly fashion, he spit in the face of the curse.
"I guarantee that even with the love-hate relationship this city has
with the Phillies, I will put money down that the Phillies are going
to win a championship next year."
Post a question for Dawn Fallik at http://go.philly.com/askdawn.
Contact her at 215-854-2795 or [email protected].
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13147582.htm
