On April Fool’s Day, patrons of France’s SNCF train service were greeted by the voice of Homer Simpson, who spouted frothy inanities in lieu of the feminine voice that normally makes arrival/departure announcements.
Eight major stations throughout the country were audio-penetrated by the Duff guzzler. Random prattle included stuff like, “The train from Alaska is waiting on platform 7. Watch out for bears!”
Observe how listeners’ ears perk up:
Also hear Homer mimicking the SNCF music, musing randomly overhead and just generally improving local sentiment for the animated citizens of Springfield.
Orchestrated by Razorfish label Duke, the campaign was inspired by a 140,000-strong Facebook petition in which, for reasons we haven’t yet divined, members demanded to hear Homer’s voice making SNCF announcements.
Um, power to the people. And if so inclined, witness while Le Post praises the SNCF for its contribution to “web 2.0 storytelling.” (En francais, but y’all get the gist.)
