Some Florida company is putting ads on the sides of freight trains. One wonders if they’ve thought this through. What’s the target demo? People stuck in cars at railroad crossings, shaking their fists in anger as the train thunders past? Or those jittery souls whose homes and businesses abut the tracks? Seems like both groups would be fairly unreceptive to shiny-happy ad messages. And chaos could ensue if Amtrak plastered its new campaign on the sides of freight cars. A lot of us would be so thoroughly confused, we’d take the wrong train and wonder why the “dining car” was filled to the roof with burlap sacks of sugar, flour and grain.

—Posted by David Gianatasio