Boston Commuters Brace For GIF-Based Etiquette Campaign

As their comrades in New York City endure their Summer of Hell, Boston’s subway riders are preparing for their own commuting challenge: possible system-wide cute overload. Last week, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority launched a public transit etiquette campaign based on animal GIFs.

A rotating selection of 10 GIFs started showing up on flat screens in the Boston T’s Copley Station as a pilot program between the MBTA and OUTFRONT Media, which handles advertising for many U.S. transit agencies including those in New York, L.A., and Washington, D.C. The ad agency is curating its GIFs via a partnership with search engine GIPHY, and the programming leans heavily on kittens, doggos, and that sneezing panda. In one example, a Labrador-looking hound trots through a crosswalk with two saddlebags holding puppies. A message below reads, “Backpacks take up space and hit people—please take them off while riding the train.”