Purr-fect commute? Cats have taken over Clapham Common Tube station
If your commute seemed a little furrier than usual this morning, it may be because campaign group the Citizens Advertising Takeover Service (yep – "Cats" for short) has got its way, and replaced 68 adverts with pictures of moggies.
The ads will be at Clapham Common Tube station in South London for the next two weeks, replacing more traditional ads, after the campaign raised more than £23,000 from 700-odd backers.
Read more: Sigh. Yes, the Treasury has a cat
In a blog post this morning James Turner, who founded Glimpse, the creative collective behind the campaign, said the aim was to inspire people to think differently about the world and realise they have the power to change it (to educate, not a-meow-se).
He added that the point wasn't to protest against adverts themselves.
It’s important to say that we’re not against advertising. We need creativity more than ever, to open our eyes to new ways of looking at the world and thinking about our place within it.
We want agencies and brands to be mindful of the power they wield and to use it to encourage positive values in society. Things like empathy and tolerance, community and togetherness deserve to be at the heart of our culture.
Back in May, when the campaign was first launched, they wrote: "Perhaps we'll start to realise that buying stuff isn't making us happy.
“Maybe cats won't make us happy either, but it’s got to be better than insurance adverts. Maybe during this moment of cat related calm we might have a brilliant thought, or a dumb one or even… spend a moment thinking about nothing at all.”