"Bus Rage" Ads Scrapped After Beheading
Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham / Paul Graham
Greyhound has scrapped an ad campaign that extolled the relaxing upside of bus travel after one of its passengers was accused of beheading and cannibalizing another traveler.
The ad's tag line was "There's a reason you've never heard of 'bus rage."'
Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said Wednesday a billboard and some tunnel posters near a bus terminal in Toronto are still up and would be removed later in the day.
"Greyhound knows how important it is to get these removed and we are doing everything possible," Wambaugh said. "This is something that we immediately asked to be done last week, realizing that these could be offensive."
Vince Weiguang Li, who immigrated to Canada from China in 2004, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old carnival worker Tim McLean. He has yet to enter a plea.
Thirty-seven passengers were aboard the Greyhound from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, as it traveled at night along a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway about 12 miles from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Witnesses said Li attacked McLean unprovoked, stabbing him dozens of times.
As horrified passengers fled the bus, Li severed McLean's head, displaying it to some of the passengers outside the bus, witnesses said.
A police officer at the scene reported seeing the attacker hacking off pieces of the victim's body and eating them, according to a police report.
Wambaugh said the ads only appeared in Canada and that some in Ontario and western Canada have already been removed. About 20,000 inserts of the Greyhound ads were scheduled to be put into an Alberta Summer Games handbook but they stopped the presses.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The ad's tag line was "There's a reason you've never heard of 'bus rage."'
Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said Wednesday a billboard and some tunnel posters near a bus terminal in Toronto are still up and would be removed later in the day.
"Greyhound knows how important it is to get these removed and we are doing everything possible," Wambaugh said. "This is something that we immediately asked to be done last week, realizing that these could be offensive."
Vince Weiguang Li, who immigrated to Canada from China in 2004, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old carnival worker Tim McLean. He has yet to enter a plea.
Thirty-seven passengers were aboard the Greyhound from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, as it traveled at night along a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway about 12 miles from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Witnesses said Li attacked McLean unprovoked, stabbing him dozens of times.
As horrified passengers fled the bus, Li severed McLean's head, displaying it to some of the passengers outside the bus, witnesses said.
A police officer at the scene reported seeing the attacker hacking off pieces of the victim's body and eating them, according to a police report.
Wambaugh said the ads only appeared in Canada and that some in Ontario and western Canada have already been removed. About 20,000 inserts of the Greyhound ads were scheduled to be put into an Alberta Summer Games handbook but they stopped the presses.
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Greyhound--a cut above the rest!
Greyhound--we don''''t charge an arm and a leg!
Macabre humor is a way of dealing with horrifying events--so please don''''t lose your head about it!
Posted by random_radar at 06:36 PM : Aug 06, 2008
..........
I share your sense of humor. And to many who look down on people who laugh at times like these...
...deep down we all feel sympathy for the victim of this horrible crime (victims if you include the loved ones of the deceased).
...it featured the (then) new "Jack" character blowing up the boardroom of the Jack-In-The-Box headquarters.
JITB had to pull the ad because of the bomb exploding scene was eerily similar. The sensitivity issue of the Oklahoma City bombing was too close, too soon.
The timing and the type of this Greyhound ad is rather ironic and tragic at the same time! I am glad that Greyhound is choosing to pull the ad for now. Especially knowing how expensive advertisement costs are, and with all the costs that have risen for Greyhound in the past couple of years (Diesel fuel), it took a mighty hardened executive staff to decide to do the right thing.
Greyhound--a cut above the rest!
Greyhound--we don''t charge an arm and a leg!
Macabre humor is a way of dealing with horrifying events--so please don''t lose your head about it!
We can''t afford to fly anymore.
thx Georgie