TfL uses celebrities to promote cycling in the capital

Watch TfL’s short film ’Introducing London with Mark Ronson’ here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvfq_maaVig

Transport for London (TfL) is launching short films featuring famous London residents to promote cycling in the capital just a few weeks after the start of the ’Boris bikes’ hiring scheme.

X-Factor host Dermot O’Leary and Radio One DJ Edith Bowman are featuring in the series of short films, which were created by Drum PHD.The films are set to the new Bike Song track by producer and DJ Mark Ronson.

One of the films is being launched in cinemas today (20 August), while the others will appear online on the TfL website and YouTube.

Each film focuses on a different aspect of Mayor Boris Johnson’s attempted cycling revolution, such as Johnson’s flagship Barclays cycle hire scheme or the new Barclays cycle superhighways.

The campaign is part of an attempt to increase the number of cycle journeys in the captial. Rough figures from TfL reveal that since the Barclays hire scheme was launched on 30 July there have been around 200,000 journeys carried out by 50,000 members of the scheme, who are using the 5,000 bikes currently available.

The mayor’s transport adviser, Kulveer Ranger, says: “London’s cycling revolution will be televised in the form of these wonderfully-made little films.

“Cycling is the most civilised way to get around this great city and these films will spread the word and encourage more Londoners to hop on to their trusty metal steeds.”

Transport for London has suspended its statutory advertising pitch indefinitely in the wake of Government marketing budget cuts.

This story first appeared on Pitch, Centaur’s subscription-based online interactive marketplace for agencies and clients to share news, opinion and debate.