Bus advertising examples that go the distance!

Bus advertising is not something new. Trucks and buses have been wrapped with ads for a long time. But, who remembers what was advertised on the side of a bus on a simple banner one week ago, lest a year ago?

When bus advertising campaigns are infused with great creative, brands and their messages become memorable and hope not to cause a traffic incident. 😉

Tempting bus advertising examples

I wish I knew the creatives behind the Mars truck advertisement campaign so I could give them credit. This truck will make you drool for a bite of candy, truck size candy.

Best Truck Advertising by Mars

VISA for foodies campaign.

Win a $5,000 Foodie experience with this original Visa bus advertising

Bus advertising as part of a Guerilla Campaign

Charmin, one of the first “true” american only brands I came in contact with while in college, soon became one of my favorite brands. Mr. Whipple accounted for a highly memorable campaign. This bus experience was part of the New York “Go in style” campaign by Agency Publicis New York in 2009 where P&G built 20 bathroom stalls with attendants in Times Square for a product launch. Tourists were driven to the Charmin bathroom stalls on these buses.

A very expensive BTL campaigns with great branding and awareness results. The bus contributed 200,000 impressions and 23% increased awareness for the stalls.

Charmin bus advertising – Guerrilla Marketing

Absolutely smashing trompe l’oeuil bus advertisement example for Specsavers in Frankton, New Zealand. Specsavers in New Zealand ran an advertising campaign promoting Specsavers Frankton on the back of what appears to be an Intercity bus. Parked at Frankton Airport, near Queenstown, the bus appears to have backed into a bus stop sign. “Should have gone to Specsavers Frankton”.

Specsavers in New Zealand ran an advertising campaign promoting Specsavers Frankton on the back of what appears to be an Intercity bus. Parked at Frankton Airport, near Queenstown, the bus appears to have backed into a bus stop sign. “Should have gone to Specsavers Frankton”.

“Should have gone to Specsavers Frankton”.

All Laundry Detergent Bus Advertisement campaign “How much can one small bottle clean?” was part of a 2006 guerrilla campaign where Manhattanites had to spot the bus to participate. Hard to miss!

All Laundry Detergent Bus Advertisement campaign. Hard to miss!

Bus advertising examples for job hunters

Careerbuilder’s “Don’t jump” bus campaign makes up for the best use of a bus space ad. Looking down from tall (and short) office buildings, the message is clearly visible: “ don’t jump. careerbuilder.com.” “Don’t Jump” advertising campaign won several awards, among them a Bronze Lion from Cannes, France, one of only eight Bronze Lions awarded to U.S. advertising firms in the “press & poster” category. The campaign, created by The Martin Agency, debuted on the tops of public buses in New York and San Francisco.

Careerbuilder’s “Don’t jump” bus campaign makes up for the best use of a bus space ad.

Monster.com “Wrong job” bus advertising campaign by JWT Hong Kong for the China market. “Stuck in the wrong job?” the tagline reads.

“Stuck in the wrong job?”

Original bus advertising examples

Keep Holland Clean bus advertisement “Don’t turn the bus into a garbage truck.” It’s just as easy to throw your trash in the waste bin. Grey Amsterdam wanted people to treat public buses with respect. They leave they’re garbage on it. So they asked people not to turn their bus into a garbage truck. It’s just as easy to throw your trash in the waste bin. By Grey Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 2008 Client: Keep Holland Clean Foundation

Keep Holland Clean bus advertisement “Don’t turn the bus into a garbage truck.” It’s just as easy to throw your trash in the waste bin. By Grey Amsterdam.

Sam Ash has put an interesting spin on the MTA’s articulated buses with this outstanding example of bus advertising.

Sam Ash | Outstanding example of bus advertising.

Weight watchers bus advertising campaign, need I say more?

Weight watchers bus advertising campaign

Bus advertising examples from down under: Community first credit union because finances are also creative. Agency: I.D.E.A.S. 2011 Australia

Community First credit union because finances can also be creative

The Bus Crash ad was developed at Smart, Melbourne London double decker red bus graphics London helping children be children again.

London double-decker bus advertisement.

Super creative bus advertisement for Yodobashi camera store. Yodobashi is a large (if not the largest) camera store chain in Japan.

Camera store bus advertising

Road Safety Bus Advertisement Campaign that highlights the importance of signaling with your hand before crossing the street. Client: Secretaria Municipal de Mobilidade e Trânsito (SMT) Brazil.

Look both ways before crossing the road.

Coming soon, my favorite bus stop advertising campaigns. Here is a sample:

Pepsi creative truck advertisement

Pepsi‘s bus stop ad in London might be the best use of augmented reality yet Waiting for a bus to arrive can quickly become an excruciatingly dull experience, so Pepsi decided to bring some surprises to a London bus shelter to make waiting a bit more interesting. For its latest ad campaign, Pepsi Max used augmented reality to turn a bus shelter’s wall into a fake window that appeared to show flying saucers, an attacking robot, and a loose tiger — among other unlikely subjects — making their way down the street. Pepsi doesn’t say exactly what it used to make the illusion happen, but it appears to have relied primarily on a camera outside the shelter that let it capture people and vehicles on the street. By the looks of it, no one was fooled for long — but it certainly had plenty of people doing double takes.