The British Humanist Association (BHA) has launched a nationwide campaign, which goes live on CBS Outdoor bus and tube sites from 5 January 2009 with the strapline: ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life’.
The BHA decided to run a campaign after seeing Christian bus advertisements run by Jesussaid.org that quoted passages from the Bible. The Association reacted to the evangelical nature of the advertisements by launching an alternative campaign – the Atheist Bus Campaign – which has attracted widespread media attention due to its controversial subject matter. Fundraising started in October last year.
The British Humanist Association aimed to raise enough money to run the atheist campaign adverts on a CBS Outdoor central London bus route; instead, public donations to the value of £130,000 mean the advert will run on CBS Outdoor’s national bus route packs and on London Underground sites.
The four-week bus campaign will go live on 600 single-deck bus ‘streetliners’ in regions across the UK including the West Midlands, Glasgow, Norfolk and Wales. In London, 200 bendy buses will carry the advertisements along iconic routes such as Islington to Park Lane and Camden Town to Trafalgar Square, ensuring that the high visibility of the bus advertising format is combined with city-wide penetration. On the London Underground, an additional £20,000 two-week campaign will commence from the 12 January with 1000 Tube Card Panels across the London network. These adverts feature four quotations from renowned atheists such as Albert Einstein, including Emily Dickinson’s famous comment ‘That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet’.
Tim Bleakley, Managing Director Sales and Marketing, at CBS Outdoor comments:
‘Bus advertising is one of our most visible outdoor advertising formats, reaching millions of people every day. Its power is in its ability to engage and captivate consumers and provoke discussion, something which this campaign by the British Humanist Association demonstrates.’
Ariane Sherine, creator of the Atheist Bus Campaign, comments:
‘CBS Outdoor have been fantastic throughout the campaign. We’re really pleased that they’ve provided us with such a diverse range of advertising media across the UK.’