LA Metro raises the bar on transit etiquette campaigns

October 11, 2017 1:42 PM

LA Metro has a new Japanese-inspired etiquette campaign staring You Tube personality Anna Akana. (Autoplay video on her page). They are fun and silly and we need more fun and silly.
posted by agatha_magatha (22 comments total)

This is literally my job at BART (reminding customers of etiquette and policies among other things). I am loving this and also filled with tremendous envy.
posted by agatha_magatha at 1:47 PM on October 11, 2017 [11 favorites]

Directed by Mike Diva, who also created that Halo Top ice cream ad that Metafilter wasn't all that sure it liked.
posted by schoolgirl report at 1:50 PM on October 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

It's mentioned in the article, but Mike Diva also made that infamous Japanese Trump commercial.
posted by perplexion at 2:09 PM on October 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

the production values on this are unbelievably good for anything, let alone a local government PSA. cheers to whoever was feeling brave enough to approve it.
posted by Emily's Fist at 2:15 PM on October 11, 2017 [3 favorites]

I assume it's easy to find video production talent in LA
posted by idiopath at 2:40 PM on October 11, 2017 [3 favorites]

These are fun!
posted by zarq at 2:40 PM on October 11, 2017 [3 favorites]

What's the line here between "Japanese-inspired" and "fetishizing and exaggerating Japanese culture"?

...he asked, being a white man and not sure how to respond to this.

On a separate note, it's inspiring how much internet culture Anna Akana has been cameoing in right now. She seems like one of those people who'll become an "overnight sensation" after years of work.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 3:01 PM on October 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

I think I would have liked that aisle-blocking one a lot better if they had actually shown where a person with a bike is supposed to go on the train rather than imply that a bike doesn't belong on the train.
posted by queensissy at 3:08 PM on October 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

These were awesome.
posted by AlexiaSky at 3:11 PM on October 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

We could use something like this here in NYC, but the MTA doesn’t have money for it, and we’d probably be better served by something more stern. Like some dude with a thick Brooklyn accent saying “Don’t eat your freaking Halal Cart food on the subway, ya mook!”
posted by SansPoint at 3:36 PM on October 11, 2017 [4 favorites]

I liked this a lot but could the set dresser or prop person or whoever honestly not find a better book for the old guy at the end to be reading than climate change-denying fantasy State of Fear? What kind of subliminal product placement garbage tyre fire bullshit is that?
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:43 PM on October 11, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'm still furiously mad that I didn't go to Mike Diva's Halloween party years ago.

Anyways, a lot of my time line has been saying these ads won't make Metro as good as Japan's but hopefully all the buzz means people are going to follow the messages in the videos?
posted by RichAndCreamy at 3:48 PM on October 11, 2017

I'm sure that there'd be a firestorm of criticism if our transit system spent that much on ads but I guess that LA's is somewhat better funded.
posted by octothorpe at 3:51 PM on October 11, 2017

...does anyone know where to get that iridescent jacket she's wearing in the "before" scenes? Asking for a… nah, it's totally me. I'm the one who needs an iridescent mesh jacket.
posted by Lexica at 4:15 PM on October 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

Idk if I could even unpack it properly but for all the charm, professionalism and actual scansion compared to London's awful tube ads something in this feels uncomfortable
posted by ominous_paws at 4:58 PM on October 11, 2017

It's the literal Japanese language in it that takes it from cute parody/homage to that slightly creepy fetishist feeling. To me, anyway, and I love me some Japanese kawaii. In Japan.
posted by ctmf at 7:31 PM on October 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

I like the song that says "you don't have to be rude, 'cos I believe in you".
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:50 PM on October 11, 2017 [4 favorites]

Okay, but I sincerely love the song in the first one and would like a full version + MV.

And then I'd like a spin off video which features Super Kind song-battling her Evil Sister (played by CL), an evildoer who eats pungent foods and uncaringly sprays strong perfumes on the train.
posted by pseudonymph at 10:13 PM on October 11, 2017

OK LA METRO THEN WHY DID YOU INSTALL SPACE FOR ONLY 2 BIKES PER LARGE ARTICULATED CAR ON YOUR BRAND NEW EXPO LINE TRAINS
posted by scose at 11:59 PM on October 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

I STILL LOVE YOU METRO but seriously the "last mile" situation in LA is bad so metro+bike is an extremely effective way to get around and I really wish they had tried to encourage that in the new car designs
posted by scose at 12:03 AM on October 12, 2017 [1 favorite]

I STILL LOVE YOU METRO but seriously the "last mile" situation in LA is bad so metro+bike is an extremely effective way to get around and I really wish they had tried to encourage that in the new car designs

Get all your friends to call Metro and tell them to put bike racks on the cars!

Metro MicroTransit service would add Uber-like shuttles to LA’s transportation network

As Los Angeles’s rail network continues to expand, Metro is considering new ways to ferry riders to and from major stations, and to compete with popular ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft. One idea: a “MicroTransit” system that would allow users to flag down shuttles using an on-demand pickup function that could be accessed using mobile devices.

posted by Room 641-A at 5:27 PM on October 13, 2017

Speaking as someone who has taken the LA trains and buses occasionally, some dude with a bike is pretty low on my annoyance scale. Given how sporadic my rides were, and yet I managed to run into two very problematic guys, I care somewhat more about the security issues than a bike.

(Amtrak, on the other hand, was always fine.)
posted by tautological at 11:22 PM on October 13, 2017