bus shelter Beach promotion in bus shelter (Photo by Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitor's Bureau

Talk about a gutsy move involving bus shelters. As if this winter wasn't rough enough for many northern cities, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitor's Bureau recently ran a promotion inside bus shelters in Chicago and Boston enticing frozen residents to leave the cold and visit the beach instead.

Can you imagine what that was like? Here you are standing in a bus shelter, bundled up against minus double-digit temperatures, waiting for your bus which is probably late given the latest blizzard, and some town in the south has the nerve to display a digital monitor streaming a live feed showing their sandy white beaches.

Yes, at that moment any sane person would prefer to be on a beach in Florida. Everybody shivering in bus shelters in the northern two-thirds of the entire US would probably like to be on a beach in Florida.

bus shelter Beach promotion in Chicago bus shelte

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitor's Bureau really turned up the heat at this one bus shelter. Literally, they actually heated up the bus shelter. And they also arranged a two-way satellite feed so Windy City residents were able to interact with people on the beach.

In total, there were five bus shelters wrapped in giant signs with a beach background where people could take a "Hello Sunny" selfie of themselves (if their down parka and three sweaters allowed them to lift their arms that high).

Ambassadors from the visitor's bureau were present on some occasions to hand out free sunglasses and ice scrapers.  Or you could don a pair of giant sunglasses for another funny selfie (if their mittens allowed them push the camera button on their smartphone).

Participants could also enter a contest to win a stay in Fort Lauderdale with free hotel and airfare.

Brilliant idea or bothersome in-your-face ad? Well, one thing is certain, bus shelters attract quite a few people. They are a great medium to get a message across because they have a captive audience.

Bus shelters offer refuge and a more pleasing experience at your location

If you are the site manager for a school, shopping mall, office complex, etc., bus shelters are a little bit of heaven when the weather is nasty. In rain, sleet or snow. They can also provide shelter when it is brutally hot, which the visitor's bureau failed to mention, occurs in Florida during the summer.

But, in this viral day and age, if you do anything that draws just a little bit of attention, then you are gaining awareness in a world that is buried in a snowbank of messages. And in this case, the visitor's bureau did an excellent job of generating buzz and news coverage.

What's so perfect about this promotion is that rather than just another TV or radio ad, the visitor's bureau took their message to a place where they knew it would have the most impact - outside in a bus shelter. A bus shelter surrounded by snow, ice and temperature so cold you could freeze an egg.

However, who is going to have the last word in this battle of the bus shelter ads? Perhaps, in September, the visitor's bureau in Chicago will run ads in bus shelters in Fort Lauderdale showing cooler temperatures and their spectacular fall foliage. Throw in a promotion for Chicago's fabulously-known deep dish pizza. Boston could get in the fall foliage act as well.

Then you will have places like Wyoming and Utah taking ads in bus shelters with skiers and snowboarders zipping down giant snow-covered mountains reminding Floridians that the rest of the earth is not five feet above sea level. Of course, New York will chime in on bus shelters everywhere, asking people do they really think going to a community theater is close to the thrill of a Broadway play?

California can run bus shelter ads showing how great the surfing is off of Manhattan Beach while Palm Beach can counter with ads showing how you can surf off their coast year-round, without a wet suit.

Note: Now that vape smoking is booming, think about providing similar smoking shelters for office workers. You don't want a bunch of employees coming in the office soaking wet.

As the gurus say, appreciate life today no matter where you are standing on the planet. If you are sitting in a bus shelter for the moment, just be grateful you are protected from the elements. It can be a whole lot worse outside that little structure.

If you are a park or site manager interested in bus shelters for sale, visit The Park Catalog.

To read about the Greater Fort Lauderdale Visitor's Bureau bus shelter promotion, click here.