'A pizza on wheels' that was rolling through Halifax
CBC Archives | Posted: February 3, 2021 1:30 PM | Last Updated: February 3, 2022
In early 1988, brightly coloured ads on the sides of buses were getting noticed and also frowned at
The ads were doing their part for advertisers, but what about the people who had to look at those ads as they made their way around the city?
This was the crux of a story out of Halifax back in 1988, when brightly painted ads on transit buses were rolling along city streets.
"This black and white and red all over object will not escape your glance," the CBC's Phil Forgeron told viewers, in a CBC News story that Midday aired on Feb. 3, 1988.
"It's one of five metro transit buses specially painted for advertisers and another one is on the way."
Some more 'startling' than others
Forgeron said it took about 100 hours of labour to prep each bus and have it painted it to an advertiser's specifications, at a cost of $6,000 to $10,000 — paid for by the advertiser.
The red, white and black bus he'd been describing was an ad conveying Pizza Hut's "gooey gooey good!" food — though the bus-side graphic was slightly obscured to Midday viewers by all the winter slush and grime that had built up on top of it.
"The pizza company that's paying for this conversion says the first one has helped sales," said Forgeron, not identifying Pizza Hut by name in his report.
"We are told this new one will not be quite as startling as No. 1, which may come as a relief to some people."
A matter of taste
Forgeron found that most people he talked to felt the ads would help keep down the costs of public transit.
But even with that benefit, there were some who felt the ads needed to meet a certain visual standard.
"As long as they're tastefully done, fine, they add some colour," said one man, who seemed to be willing to give the ads a chance.
"But, I don't know, the pizza one — it looks like a pizza on wheels," he said, laughing as he gave his take on it.