Advertisers here will start using a U.S. idea to exploit untapped terrain in an effort to offload their products: subway tunnel ads.
Subway commuters traveling between Tameike-Sanno and Akasaka-Mitsuke stations on the Ginza Line will see an advertisement for a Suntory Ltd. sports drink between Thursday and June 15.
The ad, which can be seen for about 15 seconds, will be outside the right side of the train as it heads toward Shibuya Station.
The ad comprises a series of 150 specially processed still images mounted along a 200-meter stretch of tunnel. Through an optical trick similar to that of motion picture projection, the images appear to move as the train travels the length of the installation.
Each of the 150 backlit sheets projects a 100-inch image.
U.S. firm Submedia LLC holds patents for the technology used in so-called motion picture tunnel advertising.
Douglas Woodring, chief executive of Submedia Asia Ltd., said the firm is in talks with potential clients and has received inquiries from subway operators.
The ads have been used in subway systems in Atlanta, New York and Hong Kong, attracting advertisers such as Calvin Klein and Coca Cola.