Courtesy of Pam Martens.
Citi Bike Used in New York City Bike Share Program
Citigroup, parent of the once walking-dead of commercial banks, Citibank, is attempting to shed its image of Dr. Evil trades, bank bailouts, and student loan horrors through a high-risk outdoor advertising campaign in New York City.
Called Citi Bike, the campaign is the brainchild of advertising giant Publicis Kaplan Thaler. Publicis explains the idea this way: “A bike sharing system consists of a fleet of specially designed, sturdy, very durable bikes that are locked into a network of docking stations sited at regular intervals around a city. The bikes can be rented from and then returned to any station in the system, creating an efficient network with many possible points and combinations of departure and arrival. With thousands of bikes at hundreds of stations, Citi Bike will be available for use 24 hours a day, all year ’round.”
What does Citibank get out of this? Its logo is emblazoned all over the bikes; it ostensibly gets kudos for a Green effort; and cyclists are effectively free labor – moving the Citibank brand all over Manhattan 24/7 as they take their life in their hands going up against wild motorists.
Citibank has likely shielded itself from liability. An unrelated private company, NYC Bike Share LLC, a subsidiary of Alta Bicycle Share, operates the program. (For the unschooled, LLC stands for limited liability corporation.)
The campaign rolled out in May and there are already at least four lawsuits at various stages in the courts. The residents and community groups that are suing view the clunky docking stations placed in front of their apartment buildings or community parks as an aesthetic blight and a usurpation of the public’s right to have a say over land use decisions. According to Julia Marsh and Rebecca Harshbarger of the New York Post, citing a report from the New York City Department of Transportation, a whopping 45 percent of the Citi Bike locations were moved after complaints by residents.
…
