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Jun 01, 2011
Marketing Issues

Could Hollywood Increase Public Transportation Ridership?

Post by admin

This idea is no where near as absurd as John Travolta's mustache in The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.

Kids eat more spinach after they’ve watched Popeye cartoons.

New Zealand experienced a 40% increase in tourism that’s been attributed to the Lord of the Rings movies.

At least 200,000 American youth are influenced to start smoking each year due to all the positive associations and images of cigarettes and characters who smoke presented in Hollywood films and television programs.

Really? You don't say.

The sleepy town of Dyersville, Iowa (population: 4,000), meanwhile, is still reaping the economic benefits of tourism due to its association with the classic Kevin Costner baseball fantasy, Field of Dreams.

And what kind of computers do you see all the cool kids using in film and television these days?

It took us, like, 30 seconds to find this and we don't even know what a "gossip girl" is.

Over in the state of Wyoming where Brokeback Mountain was set, a dramatic increase in tourism occurred after the Oscar-winning gay cowboy epic was released wide across the nation – this despite the fact that the movie wasn’t even filmed in Wyoming and was instead shot in Alberta, Canada.

And how many of us would know such a city as Casablanca, Morocco even existed (let alone where to find it on a map) were it not for a certain Humphrey Bogart movie?

This one, if you were wondering.

In other words: If Hollywood makes something look cool, it is cool. And its no secret that consumption follows coolness.

We know that Hollywood thinks you’re a loser if you don’t drive and so far the best treatment American film has ever given public transit is this:

"No thanks . . . I think I'll just walk the three hours to work today."

And while it was a fine and entertaining flick, I can assure you it didn’t make anyone want to ride public transit. Quite the opposite, I suspect.

So . . . Leaving all moral and ethical judgements aside:

Is it possible that Hollywood could increase public transportation ridership if they depicted it in a positive light?

Could the American film industry accomplish what the public transit industry has failed to do despite decades’ worth of attempts and billions of dollars in government subsidies?

Not to mention thousands of ill-conceived and poorly executed billboard and marketing campaigns.

And when exactly was the last time we saw a positive depiction of public transit in a mainstream and popular American movie?

Not here, that's for sure.

Ultimately, what would happen if Hollywood created movies that made public transit look cool?

It’s worth thinking about – seriously . . .

You're a fool if you think the car industry hadn't already figured this one out...

 

. . . decades ago.

 

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