Take the Beach Train with the Athens Metro!

 How many years has it been since an advertisement captured your attention and fired your imagination? Can you recall a time when an ad campaign seized massive notice and people would hum a jingle or quote a catch phrase or line? Perhaps not, because those days are long gone and our world now moves like a speeding train flashing split second images across our consciousness.

Jaded and over stimulated by a plethora of images, facts and data, it is amazingly refreshing to feel truly wowed by anything any more.  But these 'Outside Project' ads  on Athens Metro system take you back to those 'Wonder Years' when a commercial still packed a punch.

The Newtons Laboratory have created a stop and stare, in your face (or in this case, at your feet) all out, can't be missed experience.  Taking Greece's beautiful sea into a hot, sweaty commuter train is pure genius.  You can't help but admire the creativity that's gone into their creation and then wonder at the technical expertise of the very real looking sand and sea that laps against the sides of the carriage.

There are footprints in the sand at water's edge and a few seashells lay scattered here and there.  Sitting in the carriage, I wondered how my fellow passengers were reacting to the images- were some annoyed by them, longing for a holiday they couldn't afford?  Were some of the foreigners heading to the airport saddened by them, thinking they would miss the Greek seas and beaches?  There must have been a few that were smiling inwardly, secure in the knowledge their holiday on a much loved island was booked.

The outside of these beach trains is much more pedestrian but still cheery. Images of surfers, beach bunnies and fun in the sun cover the entire length of the train.  As I watched my train speed out of the station, it dawned on me that this wonderful campaign has a fatal flaw- it is so eye catching and interesting, you completely fail to notice the product it is promoting. I was brought down to earth with a bump when I learned that, as it turns out, all this innovative campaign is for....a lottery scratch card!