London Underground 150th Birthday Campaign

OK to start with: 150 years of the tube- that is impressive, especially considering that here in South Africa we're still stomping our feet with excitement at the MiCiti bus.

M&C Saatchi did this advert and it is beautiful. It shows the transformation of British culture over the past century and a half with the tagline "Keeping London moving for 150 years". It was done as both a print campaign and a moving image poster, with the faces looking at you while on the underground escalators.

While on the escalators you would look left into the faces of Londoners been and gone, the beauty of this is not in the concept that is essentially quite simple but rather in the history portrayed and the placing of the images.

The last 150 years has seen this city undergo a huge change: through large urbanization, two wars, the big stink, the hippie movement and the swinging sixties to bring it to it’s modern state. All of this is shown in the visual, the sub-cultures they have decided to portray are also returning in pop culture today making this poster apt. The boardwalk empire style of the sepia woman, followed by the Birdsong soldier then the Mad Men couple, the Twiggy-esque model (on a side note: her M&S campaign was a travesty), the Martin Freeman Mod, the This is England Punk, the modern day hip-hop fan followed by the futuristic Prometheus woman. They have used images that the every day commuter can identify immediately and understand. These characters are still culturally relevant rather than the traditional free love hippies and Queens guards which have become a cliché when representing London.

Charles and Camilla caught on the tube

The tagline implies that the tube has been influential in the change in London over the years, which may sound a bit drastic but is in fact quite true. During the war the cities inhabitants hid from bombs in underground stations, bands like The Who and The Jam have written songs about the underground, it has featured in famous novels and films such as Harry Potter, Atonement, James Bond and the legendary warning “Mind the gap” has created a tagline for tourist paraphernalia world wide. The speed and ease of public transport has allowed this city to remain one of the worlds most efficient and powerful over the years. I feel that this advert shows the link between the tube and the growth of London well.

In conjunction with these print ads and “moving posters” the TFL are also launching an exhibition at the transport museum showcasing the poster art of the underground. Such a beautiful idea to grant design the acknowledgement it deserves. It is hard to find a public transport company that bonds itself with art as well as the underground, they have displayed poetry, short films and artwork in the stations in a constant attempt to showcase the power of Londoners whilst allowing busker’s (admittedly sometimes terrible ones) to play us sweet music while we rush in and out of the city.

M&C Saatchi are famous in the world of advertising, Charles especially for his support of young British artists, just one of the many reasons that I feel that they were perfect for this campaign. These simple posters manage to say so much about a legendary brand, and they manage to celebrate (which is the point after all) the transformation of this London staple. Overall a exquisite campaign that truely shows the style of this establishment.