Nick Taylor

I was quite surprised when I saw these adverts for the first time yesterday at Paddington Station. I saw them again this morning at Oxford Circus, and I suspect they’re being shown quite widely. This one was on its own, but they were also being shown as every other ad on the video ad screens up all the main escalators.

It’s quite a daring advert campaign – and one I have a hard time believing. To me, the Evening Standard, along with its former owner the Daily Mail, have been for a long time synonymous with racism, homophobia and general, widespread negativity. I’ve assumed that every article is pretty much about sending the ‘dirty black, gay, asylum-seeking, dole-scum’ back where they came from.

The Guardian comments on the new advertising campaign, noting that if nothing else it will spark debate, following the paper’s acquisition by a Russian billionaire and his plan to transform the paper.

He stated that he’d like to make the paper younger, more ‘progressive’ and more positive about life in London. This can only be a good thing – I for one would pay for a quality evening newspaper that provided a decent amount of interesting news – a Guardian-lite, perhaps – instead of the drivel that is currently available, whether the freesheets or the current incarnation of the Standard. When the paper is relaunched on 11 May, it’d be great to see this transformation – but I think I’ll wait for the news coverage rather than queuing for my own copy.