Unless you’ve achieved the impossible and managed to avoid the MTR for the past week, you’ll have noticed a pretty aggressive advertising campaign by HKTVmall.
There are basically no other ads in the MTR now, but you’ll be pleased to know that they’re different at each station. Otherwise that could get REALLY tiresome!
There is a total of 3,298 ads across 119 tracks at 51 MTR stations, so prepare to be well and truly brainwashed over the next two weeks.
The massive HKD30 million takeover, which is the MTR’s biggest campaign by a single advertiser, is an attempt to draw more awareness to HKTVmall’s Summer Giveaway, which sees different prizes offered to residents of different neighbourhoods who spend over HKD400 in the online mall.
If you’ve been reading Coconuts HK carefully enough (sorry about all the typos, btw) you’ll know that the giveaway didn’t get off to a great start, as one man living in Quarry Bay and expecting to get a coffee machine was almost palmed off with Hong Kong Station’s prize of a melon instead.
Before you start complaining about a new extreme form of localism, however, know that the prizes aren’t assigned by the perceived quality of the corresponding residents.
While the 51 geographically-linked visuals in the MTR are tailor-made according to the characteristics of different areas, the prizes are totally random.
If you live in Wan Chai you’ll get a hairy crab; if you live in Tsim Sha Tsui you’ll get sushi; if you live in Wong Tai Sin you’ll get a chicken.
But yeah, Hong Kong Station and its melon still seems to come out worst.
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