While riding to work this morning on a train in Chicago, CTA Tattler reader, Robin, saw a man, with his face painted blue and a cell phone to his ear, get on the train and blather on annoyingly so all could hear. Robin noticed the man’s hoodie had a logo on the front but couldn’t quite make it out. After a bit, he moves closer to her, turns around and reveals the back of is hoodie which read, “Talk Until You’re Blue in the Face with U.S. Cellular.” Once the man had the attention of Robin and a few others, he began to tell whomever he was on the phone with “Naw, don’t worry about it, brah, I’ve got free incoming calls with this thing. Yeah, and they gave me a sweet phone, too. Yeah, we could walkie-talkie. Even takes pictures.” Now there’s some nasty ass guerrilla marketing.
Robin didn’t take kindly to the stunt and said, because of the stunt, she’d never spend money with U.S. Cellular and would tell all her friends and family not to as well. Not quite the reaction U.S. Cellular was hoping for. Robin also mentions the Chicago Transit Authority’s daily announcements, “Solicitation on CTA trains is prohibited; violators will be arrested,” and wonders whether this man, and U.S Cellular, were breaking the law or whether the Transit Authority was breaking its own rule by taking money from U.S. Cellular and allowing this stunt. Gotta love guerrilla marketing.
