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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL / CALIFORNIA
What Looks Like a Race Car But Runs Like a ... Slow Bus?
By Ryan Tate

07/21/1999
The Wall Street Journal
CA2
(Copyright (c) 1999, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Is the notoriously slow San Francisco Municipal Railway trying to pull a fast one?

The agency is legendary for long waits on its bus and light-rail systems; indeed, a stunt staged last year by a local newspaper saw pedestrians beat the Line N trolley in a race to Civic Center. So it was quite a twist when, starting in May, a pair of Muni buses came cloaked as giant race cars.

The $10,000 makeover, which envelops each bus in a floor-to-ceiling advertisement, is part of a campaign by Houston's Pennzoil-Quaker State Co. to promote its Pennzoil brand motor oil. And, perhaps, to torture commuters. "I would not describe Muni as a race car," says Andrew Sullivan, chairman of the advocacy group Rescue Muni. "Speed is not usually its hallmark."

This isn't Pennzoil's only jab at the beleaguered transit agency; ads placed on the rear of San Francisco buses tell trailing cars that "your engine hates being here as much as you do." But spokesman Ray Scippa insists the company had "blissful ignorance" of Muni's sluggish reputation when the campaign began. "It turns out to be effective marketing nevertheless," he says.

For its part, Muni -- which, coincidentally, says it doesn't use Pennzoil in its fleet -- sees no irony. Spokeswoman Lorraine Mallare says the ads, which bring the agency $4,700 each month per bus, are "just a money-making kind of thing."