Battling For Your Religious And Spiritual Beliefs

This summer, an Atheist Bus Campaign was spearheaded by New York City Atheist, followed this fall by subway ads sponsored by The Big Apple Coalition of Reason, as seen in this photo here.

Now the Marble Collegiate Church is striking back, with a lone ad (at top) spied on the D train. What they lack in quantity and coverage, they make up for with smart, relevant statements that clearly identify the players in this game. Google, or God.

Make the right choice.

(disclaimer: We live a blessed life, and am not entirely sure who is responsible, though our friends and family sure deserve a lot of credit.)

The Devil Wears Prada, And Has A Landline

Apparently people still have land lines. Do you remember those things? "Hello, this is the operator, I am making an emergency breakthrough…"

Landlines were pretty cool, but you can't Twitter from a land line. And as NYC The Blog randomly discovered by chance the other day while Googling for Liza Minnelli's version of New York New York, Google, good for all manner of things, is also good for finding publicly listed phone numbers of people who have publicly listed phone numbers for a land line. People like Anna Wintour and Liza Minnelli. Does Liza have one of those red lips phone? We bet she does.

At this time, though every number in the screen shot shown here rings, NYC The Blog has only confirmed the phone numbers for Anna Wintour, Andrew Krucoff*, and the Hammersteins of Salem NY. (those Hammersteins must be the famous ones right? Their answering machine message sounded famous).

Contacted via email for confirmation on the phone number, Andrew wrote, “oddly enough, i just disconnected it two weeks ago.” The Hammerstein Home in Salem NY had a cheery voice mail. “Hi, you’ve reached the Hammersteins! Please leave a message.” Upon reaching the home of Anna Wintour, we asked to speak to her. A young woman answered the phone, her daughter maybe? and informed us she was not in at this time. Asking for our name, and where we were calling from, I identified myself and sta, sta, stammered before I hung up the phone. Sorry Anna I didn’t mean to crank call you but I was unprepared! Had I not been, I would have liked to ask you if you were happy that fashion week was over, and if you are really getting replaced by that lady in France?

If anyone would like their information removed from Google Phonebook, you can go here to do so. Unfortunately Bernie Madoff's number is not listed.

*Andrew's address has been obscured because he's not really famous irl, just on the internets.

Gmail Themes: NYC vs. MANHATTAN vs. STATEN ISLAND vs. BOSTON vs. UGANDA vs. SYDNEY vs. IRAQ

Google slowly and surely rolled out new thematic designs for Gmail yesterday, and though I'm not sure at this time, I think it is a new universal setting at this time. (Gmail's Phantasea theme at right)

I geeked out with Google themes last night, and discovered that if you choose certain themes, you are asked for your Country and City location, with text appearing on a mouse over explaining that the themes will change depending on your location. What's more, I have since learned that the themes chosen will also change during the day according to morning, noon, and night. I immediately changed my location to Gulu, Uganda, to throw Google and the Government off my scent. I know how these games are played, like reindeers.

The screen shot above shows three different Beach themes set at the locations of Manhattan, NYC, and Staten Island respectively, all from 6pm-ish. NYC is specific, and not the same as Manhattan, as sometimes the two locations had different designs, different as well if you chose Brooklyn or Staten Island for instance. I'm not sure what city above has the most pleasing beach. Staten Islands has a nice purple glow. Is the sun setting in Staten Island while it is rising in NYC?

I do know that Baghdad, Iraq has a very ominous beach, thanks to Google Themes. I also know that Gulu, Uganda has beautiful golden brown, sun baked mountains, while NYC has frozen, snow capped, inhospitable looking things.

What did the Tree Theme look like in different locales? Again, from 6pm-ish, Seattle is cloudy, Mexico City is has clear skies, and Manhattan is bright and sunny out.

The Tea House theme is getting dark in Brooklyn, it's late afternoon in Dallas, and later afternoon in San Fran. and evening has set in here in NYC. Across the pond, London's moon is rising.

A collection of these screen grabs is up at Flickr. Here is a Flickr set of every Google theme set to location NYC. Then I got bored with changing my location, switched it back to Gulu, Uganda, and shredded the draft of this post.

Advertising platforms proliferate in the Times Square subway station

Google is wrapping the shuttle trains. A few blocks down at Herald Square, Asics is projecting itself against the wall. The NY Times recently reported on the variety of advertising options new and old, that CBS Outdoor -as the company that handles all the advertising in the subway stations- is now exploring, such as projecting images on the train tunnel itself, (similar to Boston and LA) ads on the turnstiles, steps, etc...Like it or not, it seems the already substantial amount of advertising in our subway stations are going to get more pronounced.

In a recent visit to the Times Square station, which seems to be the testing point for new ads, NYC The Blog photographed some, but not all of these new advertising spaces, such as turnstiles arms. Turnstile arms, Really? Well Navyformoms.com has opted to claim some in the Times Square station to questionable effect. Maker's Mark wanted a set of stairs, as did Bank of America.

"Advertisers are eager for any new way to capture consumers' attention." the Times wrote. Maybe a little to eager, hmm? They continued, "'Advertisers, especially in this environment, are looking to do something different and be noticed,' said Jodi Senese, the executive vice president for marketing for CBS Outdoor. 'When something is new, clearly there's an
opportunity to make a big splash,' she said."

That seems reasonable, and the new projection display the company began leasing last week over a passageway in the station appears to hit that mark, grabbing your attention, but in a way that does not feel intrusive or over the top. Photos at right.

All in all there is a very large amount of advertising in that station, in relation to elsewhere, which often is already quite substantial. It seems as though most commuters ignore the advertisements, and I wonder how effective any of it is, particularly the more intrusive work on the stairs, turnstiles, etc...Often times any reaction I might have is averse. The digital projections are not so bad, for instance, and the wrapping of trains...Maybe ok also. After all is said and done though, I don't have any money anyways, so...

<Google Wraps Times Square Subway Shuttle In Advertisement>
<Asics Digital Projection Ad: Union Square Subway Station>
<The Train Is Coming. And With It, More Ads.>

Put Your City On

(video of Barney's window via Celedo15 on YouTube)

• Barneys Unveils Hippie Christmas Windows <Runnin' Scared>
• SoHo Art Vendors Face City Hall <Gothamist>
• What do you do when a large person has squished you on the train? One blogger documents a situation <Subway Blogger>
• After posting photos here of the new Google wrapped shuttle train which was picked up by a number of websites, many people have pointed out the error made by Google in their directions they offered commuters in an interior advertisement <Gothamist>
• Thousands Canned At CitiGroup <1010 Wins>
  

Google Wraps Times Square Subway Shuttle In Advertisement

The History Channel was recently the first to take advantage of the MTA's new decision to allow a complete wrapping of subway cars in advertisements, when they wrapped the shuttle train in Times Square. And now Google has stepped up as the next concern to wrap a train, wrapping three exterior cars with an advertisement for Google Maps, slightly less understated then the History Channel's ad, if such a thing could be, as Google has only wrapped the exterior of the train, leaving the interior with the more traditional ads we are used to seeing in the square displays or banners up top.

The Times Square station seems to be ground zero for utilization of a number of uncommon advertising uses, with columns, steps, turnstile arms, trains, and many other surfaces being covered in ads. More pictures below of the Google train below.

[UPDATE: Adage is reporting that Google advertisements inside the train which offer directions are erroneously giving wrong information. "Specifically, we spotted this erroneous tip inside the train car: To get from Grand Central to Madison Square Garden, take the 1, 2 or 3 train and then walk to 4 Penn Plaza. Only the 1, 2 or 3 train doesn't run through Grand Central -- it goes through Times Square. Oops!"]

Related:

• Asics Digital Projection Ad: Union Square Subway Station
  
• Straphangers At 163rd St C Train Station View Less Number Of Advertisements
  
• Obama Wins; Subway Trains Parade Down 125th St Last Night.
• The Most Cavernous Subway Station In NYC?