Take a look at this parody TTC merchandise
When the TTC launched an online merch store full of items celebrating the transit system’s cool vehicles and retro-modern typography, it seemed, to some, like a marketing masterstroke. To others, it was an opening for parody.
A few days ago, a Reddit user announced that he and a friend had created a fake online TTC store with items that highlight the less pleasant aspects of travel on one of North America’s most chronically underfunded big-city subway networks. The store started as a joke, but within 72 hours it had become a reality. A website, NotInService.ca, is now actually selling the stuff.
The guys behind NotInService, Mike and Marty, withheld their last names and declined to be interviewed, citing the need “to figure out a few things”—whatever those might be. (Cut to: Mike and Marty glowering at each other over a pile of loose cash, Treasure of the Sierra Madre-style.)
In any case, here’s a tour of their cleverest items.
The Loudspeaker Tee
Ah yes, unintelligible PA announcements. Who doesn’t love a little bafflement with their delay-induced frustration? They go together like milk and coffee.
The Line 1 Button
We can’t remember the last time we were delayed by more than 30 minutes or so on the subway, but point taken.
The What Else is New? Tee
The TTC’s unofficial slogan, finally in T-shirt form.
Ding Dang Dong
Mike and Marty show their mastery of the onomatopoeic form with this textual rendering of the TTC’s famous triple chime.
