Bond Street "temporary rebrand"

[Adam Williams]

What were TfL thinking?

Are tourists just meant to know that this is Bond Street?

There's nothing on the station webpage to explain what's going on either.

 

[Mike395]

That's atrocious - I'm not against station sponsorships but changing core wayfinding signage is a step too far.

 

[jb108822]

It's just gonna get people confused if they see signage that's a different colour to what's expected, especially on that part of the Central line.

 

[Adam Williams]

Will the income from Burberry go towards not withdrawing travelcards, perhaps?

Or maybe they can finally deal with the rats at London Bridge...?

 

[Bletchleyite]

That, like putting wrong "joke" names on the PIS, is incredibly stupid and irresponsible. The Tube is heavily used by tourists and they will be confused by this.

 

[GatwickDepress]

It doesn't even make sense. Barbiecan for the recent Barbie film (actually, was that unofficial signage?) or Picardilly Circus for that Amazon Star Trek spin-off is an obvious play on words at the very least - although I still dislike wayfinding signage altered for advertising purposes.

 

[Mag_seven]

The Tube is heavily used by tourists and they will be confused by this.

I was briefly confused by it when on the Liz line this morning!

 

[Warrior2852]

They've changed *every* sign, including all the ones on the surface buildings on the outside, you're going to have people on the surface looking for Bond Street when it currently doesn't exist in signs, not helped by the fact that in Zone 1 there's an entrance to some station or another round every corner so they could very easily think that they've found a different station on different lines when they're exactly where they need to be. Changing a couple roundels at platform level is one thing, but the *entire* station is too far.

 

[Farigiraf]

Way too much time and money spent for a joke/advertisement of something(?). The occasional Gareth Southgate or London St Pancake is fine but this is impressively wasteful.

 

[jfollows]

I despise this and similar gimmicks.
What are they trying to achieve? Presumably money.
But if they think we'll all love them all the more because they're "human" and "like a joke" then I don't - they're idiots. Their job is to make travel by public transport as simple and sensible as possible, and this achieves the opposite.
Others have already commented about confusion to tourists, often foreign, and infrequent travellers.
I'd sack the people responsible for this if I could, to be honest.

 

[BJames]

This is absolutely unacceptable. I have also seen a lot of negative sentiment about this on social media. Is there actually anywhere on that platform at all that still says Bond Street?

London Travelwatch on twitter said something like which station is this? The fact we have to ask is worrying... (or words to that effect) - so I wonder if they will raise this with TfL sooner rather than later.

 

[D1511]

Utterly disgusting. And confusing for those unfamiliar, as others have said.
TfL have lost the plot completely in their desperation for money.

 

[Warrior2852]

Is there actually anywhere on that platform at all that still says Bond Street?

There's nowhere in the station that still says Bond Street, right down to the line diagrams and the external signs on the station building.

 

[Western Sunset]

Doubtless it'll become James Bond Street when the next film is released...

 

[Mag_seven]

I have a feeling this may realise a potential safety / station evacuation issue?

 

[rebmcr]

I have a feeling this may realise a potential safety / station evacuation issue?

I find it hard to believe that this avoids breaching RVAR and/or the Equality Act.

A blind person will now have a better experience (through accurate audio announcements) while a deaf person will have a worse experience (through inaccurate signage). That's discrimination against a protected characteristic.

 

[BJames]

There's nowhere in the station that still says Bond Street, right down to the line diagrams and the external signs on the station building.

That is absolutely ludicrous. Even the line diagrams ! That's crazy.

 

[thomalex]

They’ve even changed the name of the station on line diagrams.

https://x.com/tfl/status/1702626094837268670?s=46

A couple of signs are fine but this total rebranding of a core station is completely absurd. Very misjudged by TfL and I’m will be used as an example of what not to do in the future.

 

[Watershed]

What utter nonsense. I (reluctantly) accept that TfL needs to take on sponsorship deals to make up for lost income, but did anyone actually think about this before approving it?

 

[Russel]

So, this is acceptable to TFL, but adverts for cheese aren't?

Maybe TFL need to concentrate on simply running a transport system?

 

[ASharpe]

A single sign and some social media circle jerking would be one thing. But this is a disgrace.

Also shows how downmarket Burberry has become as a brand. Do they know that the hoi polloi pass though Bond Street constantly and some of them even use the station.

 

[Busaholic]

Lord Ashfield will be spinning in his grave, and he was a man who knew all about advertising techniques both from his various enterprises prior to the establishment of the London Passenger Transport Board, which he headed, and from his extensive time at the helm in London. It is utterly unacceptable for TfL to do this and heads should roll, not least the person who signed this off. The Mayor must be grilled on this to make sure it never happens again but, more importantly. this crass campaign should end immediately, even if the brand concerned has to be reimbursed. Imagine how its competitors will feel about a public body in effect officially pushing one brand over others, a very different matter from a firm bagging all the advertising on a station platform or up the escalators. A new low point for London's public transport operator.

 

[thomalex]

London Underground’s logo, the roundel, was invented to be distinct from the adverts surrounding it, so that passengers could clearly see the name of the station.

https://x.com/jayforeman/status/1702682582008147978?s=46

I think this just about sums it up

 

[Sunil_P]

Shades of the "We is Croydon" signs at Norwood Junction and so forth...

 

[Whiggism]

Today I was on an Elizabeth Line service from Heathrow and there were French and American Tourists who missed their stop at Bond street as they were confused by the station signs.

 

[Taunton]

The Mayor must be grilled on this to make sure it never happens again

Not for the first time. Long ago (possibly 1990s, others might remember) Tottenham Court Road got a complete advertising makeover put up through the weekend for, if I recall correctly, 7-Up beverage. The ads were pasted, presumably with some advertising department authority, throughout the station, including across safety signs, and included the cartoon characters the beverage ads used at the time saying "Way Out, man" and pointing in the opposite direction to the actual exit.

Someone senior from London Underground came through at about 9am on Monday, and by an hour later the whole station staff were engaged in ripping them all off again.

 

[Adam Williams]

I find it hard to believe that this avoids breaching RVAR and/or the Equality Act.

A blind person will now have a better experience (through accurate audio announcements) while a deaf person will have a worse experience (through inaccurate signage). That's discrimination against a protected characteristic.

Equality impact assessment for Burberry "station rebrand" - a Freedom of Information request to Transport for London

I would like to request a copy of any Equality Impact Assessment put together for the Burberry Street rebranding of Bond Street station. Yours faithfully, Adam Williams

www.whatdotheyknow.com

 

[rebmcr]

Equality impact assessment for Burberry "station rebrand" - a Freedom of Information request to Transport for London

I would like to request a copy of any Equality Impact Assessment put together for the Burberry Street rebranding of Bond Street station. Yours faithfully, Adam Williams

www.whatdotheyknow.com

Excellent!

 

[Peter0124]

They've gone too far with this! I like what Southeastern do with "St Pancake" but that is ONLY on departure boards. Plus its still obvious it is really St Pancras.

However as for this, there are dozens of stations ending in "Street".

Mad to think I was just on the Liz Line 3 days ago and Im pretty sure it was Bond Street.

 

[bluegoblin7]

They've gone too far with this! I like what Southeastern do with "St Pancake" but that is ONLY on departure boards. Plus its still obvious it is really St Pancras.

Except it isn’t, as this thread shows. Neither are acceptable, but in many cases the ‘St. Pancake’ example is worse because it is a fictional station and it is appearing on screens which are primarily used to find trains to a particular destination. Those with dyslexia or whose first language isn’t English do struggle with these fictional names.

Conversely, whilst Bond Street is a problem it is for different reasons. When travelling to the station all other information (other stations, on-train maps and signage and audiovisual announcements) still refer to Bond Street. The issue comes either after alighting for confirmation of the correct destination or when trying to find the station - particularly somewhere like Oxford Street where it’s entirely reasonable to have a ‘funnied’ roundel that could easily be some kind of shop or other tourist attraction.

Both are bad. Both need to stop. It’s unlikely that anything can be done under the various equality/disability legislations (particularly as the LU and XR parts are governed by different rules) but it does seem that there is finally enough of a furore that people are waking up, rather than the usual praise (as highlighted above).

Ultimately, you can’t support St. Pancakes whilst condemning Burberry Street - neither should be happening.