Metro Ad Space

Yesterday, I saw my first metro car encased in an ad. For McDonald's walnut salad. I had heard that Metro sold ad space to a couple companies, and allowed them to wrap the ad around the outside of the car (like buses sometimes have), which they have never allowed before. We've always had poster ads in the stations and inside the cars. But this wrapping of the ad is new.

I've been hearing a lot of complaints about this in various forums. Some people think it's too commercial. Some people think it shouldn't be done because it's ugly and it changes the look of the metro.

I disagree. Yes, it's commercial. That's the point. But Metro is a business, and I'd rather they sold ad space that doesn't really affect me in any way (broadcast ads in the stations or on the trains, for example, would bother me) than raise the fares again. Also, I think Metro already is ugly. It all looks the same, unlike Paris's metro, for example, where different stations have different looks. Our stations were built to look identical. So I'm all for changing the look of the metro. At least the ad car was green. It was kind of exciting, even though it was a McDonald's ad.