Suicide radio

I saw a woman hit by a subway train. Whether she jumped or slipped I don't know but there was no media coverage although the subway was not working for several hours. Either way it was an awful scene and one I will not soon forget.

'Suicide' ad irks transit authority JEFF GRAY

From Friday's Globe and Mail

An irreverent ad for local Virgin Radio 99.9 FM that depicts a radio about to commit suicide by leaping onto the TTC's subway tracks is being pulled from the city's transit shelters after the chairman of the transit agency complained. "That ad was not amusing," Adam Giambrone, chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission, said yesterday. "I don't believe Torontonians would find that ad funny. ... Suicide is a serious issue."

Rebecca Shropshire, a spokeswoman for station owner Astral Media Radio, said the ads had been up for about two weeks with just two complaints, but that all were being removed yesterday at the city's request. "It wasn't intended to make light of suicide. It was intended to frame up a piece of social commentary about whether traditional media still have a place in the world," Ms. Shropshire said. The ad campaign for the recently relaunched pop radio station depicts radios in various settings appearing to contemplate suicide, with the tagline, "Give your radio a reason to live."

Mr. Giambrone, who was alerted to the ad by a writer at the Torontoist blog this week, said he immediately asked city officials to tell advertising contractor Astral Media Outdoor to remove the ad from the city's transit shelters. (Astral, which holds the city's massive street furniture contract and administers all advertising on transit shelters, also owns Virgin Radio.) Mr. Giambrone said the TTC is reviewing its policies on approving photo shoots on its property. The TTC currently vets scripts for film or TV shoots to ensure that none depict suicides on its system. It demands only written descriptions of still photography.
In this case, Mr. Giambrone said, Astral Media Radio's Chicago-based ad agency, Zig, said it was taking photos of "radios on TTC platforms." Zig spokeswoman Katrina Limbaugh said the agency "did properly fill out all of the required paperwork according to their guidelines for commercial photography shoots" and that TTC staff were present during the entire shoot.

The TTC is extremely sensitive about suicides on its system, which traumatize many subway operators. It generally does not discuss the issue in public and asks the media not to report on suicides to avoid encouraging them.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

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