TfL is currently running an ad campaign “to encourage more considerate behaviour on London’s transport system”. There are posters on buses and in Tube stations, and films, too, apparently.

This seems like a pointless waste of money to me. People do not litter / make noise / put their feet on the seat because they don’t know better. They litter because they don’t care. The people who litter will not pay any attention to these ads, and if they do, they won’t change their behaviour.

It’s the same with all these reminders to “please remember to take all your belongings with you when leaving the train”. A passenger who’s attentive enough to listen to announcements will need no prompting to count their bags and coats before getting off.

I wonder if anyone has studied the effectiveness of such ads. Apparently public service announcements can be effective. And I can see how ads might work well when the aim is to raise awareness of an important issue (smoking kills) or to gather support for an important question (political protests). But the fundamental assumption has to be that your audience wants to hear your message!