Amtrak: Enjoy the Journey

Amtrak is back on the air with a new commercial that uses children’s toys to make the point that taking a long distance trip via train is far less stressful and more enjoyable than either driving or flying.  While I personally never lined all my matchboxes up in three parallel lines to create a traffic jam in the living room, I guess it’s a sign of the times.

The bulk of the commercial shows young boys playing with their toy cars and planes while uttering adult complaints about life trapped in car culture and airports.  The last couple seconds of the ad show another youngster happily playing with a model train zooming around happier toys and proclaiming, “The train has now arrived.”  From there, a narrator takes over, “The train has arrived indeed.  Amtrak, enjoy the journey.”

Personally, I laughed at one kid glumly wondering, “I wonder how much gas costs today” as his toy car pulled into a plastic gas station.  The chortle was matched followed shortly by another going “An extra bag costs WHAT?!?” as his plastic figurine put on a shocked face.

Over the past year we’ve seen a spate of advertisements about how
wonderful traveling by bicycle is compared to car from health insurance
companies, banks and others; so it’s nice to see train service
promoting itself likewise.  We’ll know we arrive when well meaning
celebrities shoot commercials about turning off your lights on trains instead of airplanes.

h/t Carfree USA