Psst… heard the one about the talking bus shelters?

Yes I bloody well have!!!!

If you`re standing at a bus shelter in Belfast city centre and it starts talking to you, don`t worry, you`re not hearing things: for talking advertisements have come to Northern Ireland for the first ever time. The innovative Belfast City Council campaign is part of a wider strategy to raise awareness of later opening and a series of evening initiatives in the city centre. Passengers waiting at bus stops in Belfast city centre can listen to 30-second advertisements about the later opening of many shops. Karalyn Smith, media manager of Ardmore Advertising, who developed the campaign, said: “We all recognise how boring it can be waiting for the bus to arrive.

It may be boring but we don't want to be annoyed as well.

The bus shelters represent a huge captive audience. This innovative medium is designed to enhance the campaign, get people talking and generate synergy with other media channels. We think the end result is exciting and definitely will make an impact on the city streets.” Wendi Kane, Evening Economy Officer with Belfast City Council, commented: “So far the talking shelters appear to have captured the attention of everyone who sees and listens to them. We are very pleased with this highly innovative campaign from Ardmore Advertising which combines sight and sound to reach our audiences.” Belfast city centre`s evening economy initiative includes the `Shopping Heaven to Seven` campaign launched in April. Retailer response has so far been positive with higher than average spend reported in the two hours between 5pm and 7pm. Wendi Kane continued: “Clearly its early days but retailer feedback has been very encouraging and we hope this latest stage of the campaign will help towards our target of making Belfast city centre a thriving shopping and leisure destination.”

Positive feedback - I'll give them positive feedback. Is a hammer through the speakers positive enough?

And they wonder why so many bus shelters are getting smashed around Belfast!

Complaints can be made online here: