September
1996 - Cycling Fraud Hits BC Transit
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The Buzzer is the provincial transit authority's newsletter. It is published bi-weekly and distributed freely to BC Transit's riders. The transit system has a poor record of integrating alternative forms of transportation. That is, riders can't take their bikes onboard most buses or any of the light-rapid transit Skytrain cars. This lack of facilities for cyclists effectively reduces commuting and recreational opportunities for many regular and would-be transit users.
THE ACTION: Beginning Friday, September 20, close to 10,000 copies of a straight-ahead Buzzer clone were placed in the transit system announcing new measures for bicycles on public transit. As well, a press release was faxed to all media outlets on BC Transit letterhead advising the public of these new initiatives.
STRATEGY: Unlike other actions where GM parodies of corporate and government PR may be dismissed and ignored by the target group, BC Transit was effectively forced to respond to our bogus Buzzer. By announcing initiatives that BC Transit is opposed to – taking your bike on buses during off-peak hours and on Skytrain on Sundays – we leveraged BC Transit into publicly debating their poor policies. Unable to ignore the fact that 10,000 Buzzers were announcing these initiatives, BC Transit had to engage in active damage control by contacting the media and making an issue of the fraud.
MEDIA: On the Monday following the action, one local radio station ran stories announcing the fake cycling intiative and spent the next day retracting the piece. Once the fraud was uncovered, both print and electronic media outlets provided excellent coverage of the issue. Two of three major television stations ran segments on the action and several community weeklies printed pieces.
WRAP-UP: This kind of action definitely has its benefits. Used selectively, playing it "straight", as opposed to satirizing a target, could prove to be very powerful. As far as the Buzzer is concerned, GM would very much like to put out another edition (announcing free transit periods?).