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September 20, 2010
Bicycle Mischief Targets Barclays
The Wall Street Journal
by David Enrich and Paul Sonne
It would appear that the British megabank, none too popular in Prospect Heights, isn't wowing them at home, either.
When British bank Barclays PLC agreed to shell out £25 million ($39 million) to sponsor London's new public bike-rental program, it envisioned the marketing benefits of seeing its sky-blue logo draped on thousands of cycles around the city.
But this week Barclays' prime marketing opportunity quite literally turned into a curse.
Londoners woke up Friday morning to find obscene stickers affixed to a number of the rental cycles. Attached to the bikes just above the bank's logo, the decals delivered a one-word message that, combined with the bank's name underneath, succinctly conveyed many Britons' anger toward the banking sector: "F– Barclays."
"There are fairly resourceful people out there, even if they've got potty mouths," said Matt Brown, a spokesman for Transport for London, which runs the city's extensive network of public buses, trains, boats and now bikes.
NoLandGrab: First Bruce Ratner, now Barclays. To what do they owe their popularity? Visit Wooster Collective for NC-17 photos of London's rebranded bicycles.
Posted by eric at September 20, 2010 6:19 PM