NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — This train's on trend.
The streetwear brand Supreme is taking a massive ad out with the MTA, wrapping a full train set with its red-and-white logo.
The Supreme-branded train will roll out on the L line this weekend, on Sunday, Aug. 15, according to the agency. Photos of the Supreme trains circulated on Twitter this week.
“So in addition to working to improve service and make sure the subway system is clean and running on time...we’re looking for new creative ways to raise revenue,” said Lucy Zachman, the MTA’s director of transit advertising and media. “We’ve done the Grand Central shuttle in the past, and this is sort of an extension of that.”
Supreme created a frenzy in 2017 when it took out an ad on the back of MetroCard. Cult followers of the brand formed long lines at vending machines where the MetroCards were distributed. Resellers hawked two-swipe MetroCards — valued at $5.50 — for $100 on eBay.
The MTA did not disclose the revenue from the deal with Supreme, though the agency raises roughly $130 million in advertising revenue a year. The agency had most commonly run full train wraps on their shuttle service.
The ad buy comes as the cash-strapped agency attempts to draw riders back to the subways that they had largely abandoned during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Ridership has slowly returned — with studies from New York and cities around the world showing that subways are not a significant spreader of the virus — but the agency still faces a projected $3.5 billion budget deficit in 2024 and 2025.