SBB discovers Via boxes as a promotional offer - and reaps criticism
If the boxes from the customer magazine *Via* are not needed, third-party companies can rent them. However, this new source of revenue for SBB has drawn criticism.
This is what the newspaper Schweiz am Wochenende writes in its current issue. Since Via is only published ten times a year and is available for two weeks per issue, the boxes are unused for 32 weeks a year. During this time, they can be rented by third-party companies for their own leaflets and brochures.
The approximately 180 boxes at around 100 locations cost 243,000 Swiss francs for a national promotion (12 x per year à 7 days), the week is available for 25,000 Swiss francs. In Zurich, Bern and Geneva, brochures of the Coop subsidiaries Interdiscount and Microspot were recently displayed with the Via logos masked.
"Regular advertising orgies"
What represents a lucrative source of income for SBB is a thorn in the side of others. Christian Hänggi of the IG Plakat Raum Gesellschaft (Poster Space Society) is annoyed by the "veritable advertising orgies" that occur in the large train stations. He says that "nothing is sacred" to the SBB, and that even listed stations are crammed with screens and billboards. Hänggi and his IG generally advocate less advertising in public spaces.
According to Schweiz am Wochenende, IG Saubere Umwelt (IGSU) is also not very happy about the current development. Managing director Nora Steimer fears an increase in littering. A danger that always exists through the placement of brochures and flyers, she says.
SBB is countering this problem with new recycling stations at train stations. The company is also involved in the annual Clean-Up Day.
