The classic public service announcement put out by TARC a last February about how to use their bus bike racks garnered the national spotlight today. We first saw the video several months ago, but the folks over at StreetsBlog have just recently fallen in love with the rap: “I never thought of bus-mounted bike racks as the stuff of infectious music videos, but I was wrong—egregiously wrong.”
StreetsBlog and its readers loves the TARC-rap so much many call for New York City to implement a similar bus-bike-rack program with a catchy PSA. We thought it was good enough to pull out and watch again.
The Ville-Voice points out that this video was produced exclusively for online consumption to create a viral effect as the rap spreads across the Internet. Looks like it’s working. The entire thing cost around $4,000 and used actual TARC employees: Mr. Theo is a bus mechanic by day and the TARCettes are bus drivers. Read more on the marketing of the video from Active Living By Design.
This video already won an award from the Public Relations Society of America and there’s apparently another video that should surface sometime (hopefully soon):
“Curious about what’s next for Mama Jama? Be on the look-out for a viral video called “Act a Fool” intended to raise awareness about loud and disruptive behavior on Louisville’s city buses. In the mean time, how about letting Mr. Theo and the TARCettes teach you how to use those bus bike racks?
Bring it down, pull the bar
Put it on, put it on
Take it off, put it up
Then you’re done, then you’re done!”
- Stuck In That Congestion? I Got One Suggestion: Use a Bike Rack (StreetsBlog)
- Alternative Transportation: TARC Raps About Bikes (Broken Sidewalk)
It's so awesome that this video is getting national attention. So very awesome.
Ok, now that is stuck in my head for the rest of the day! Nice, catchy. Glad Louisville is getting some exposure for the right reasons