by KYW’s Mike Dunn
Fresh off a big-bucks Harrisburg bailout (see related story), SEPTA is infuriating some community leaders by wrapping two of its buses in giant ads for malt liquor.
The ads for Colt 45 malt liquor are wrapped over two SEPTA buses, top to bottom. The buses are being deployed each day on different routes so they get to all parts of the city and suburbs.
Community leaders like the Rev. Jesse Brown have long battled "stop-n-go" stores -- corner shops that sell malt liquor. So Brown is fuming about this:
“SEPTA’s failure to determine the appropriateness or the impact of the advertising on the general public is something that we should not be tolerating. As you look at that Colt 45 ad, it is designed in such a way that it would be attractive to kids. And that’s what the alcohol industry wants to do anyway -- get kids involved with alcohol.”
Brown is planning protests, and city councilman Jim Kenney (in file photo at right) has written the SEPTA board to complain:
“People have been fighting these take-out beer delis for years now. And now, to reinforce it on a SEPTA route that this is an acceptable product and behavior, I don’t think is appropriate for a government agency to be doing.”
SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney says the agency needs the ad revenue despite the $200-million bailout from Harrisburg:
“Even though that financial situation has been alleviated a bit, we are expected to continue to generate a considerable amount of money from advertising.”
The SEPTA board voted last year to resume its acceptance of alcohol advertising throughout the system. Maloney says the alcohol ads overall bring in about a half-million dollars a year.
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