Metro is embedded in the streets and iconography of Los Angeles. Our instantly recognizable "carrot-colored" buses dot the backgrounds of Hollywood productions, TV commercials and influencer videos. Yet transit is still often viewed as a social service, reserved for the most impoverished residents of L.A. -- "if you have a choice, you should have a car" has been the prevailing mentality. We aim to further embed the Metro brand and transit more broadly into every aspect of L.A.'s iconic culture.
Good social plans leave room for flexibility – and when, days after Los Angeles native Kendrick Lamar dropped his first-full length album in years, unannounced, the “mustaaaaaard” lyric started trending on social media, we ran with it.
Heinz, who used the trend on billboards, may have a closer product tie-in, but Lamar is our hometown hero. Within hours of the trend emerging, we edited a photo of a bus's headsign – where the line number and destination are usually displayed – with the word “MUSTAAAAARD” and presented our BUStaaaaaaard to the judgment of Instagram.
The post quickly received attention, with many commenters expressing their approval, referencing the rivalry between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, and stating their love for L.A. and Metro. Commenters also noticed that the post was liked by another major Los Angeles artist, Tyler the Creator (who refers to the “carrot-colored bus” on his most recent album).
Top comments include:
“hats off to the @metrolosangeles socials team. you killin’ me with your content. thanks for lovin’ l.a. and all us in the city of angels.”
“Metro standing on business”
“can we pls start riding the metro to specific spots” (followed by tagging friends)
“I love LA Metro so much, yall are the best!”
“Drake can’t even take the bus in LA 😂”
Our conversation within the comments also received attention, with some of our responses receiving thousands of likes and thousands more replies.
Metrics currently sit at:
Impressions: 1.5M
Reach: 1.37M
Engagements: 134,395
