The Bus Stops Here! - AD

For the last 20 years, those bored senseless while stuck in Westside traffic jams could derive a little entertainment pleasure from Santa Monica Bank, whose ad campaign has consistently run on the back of the community's Big Blue Buses. Known for cheeky monthly messages such as "We handle more zeroes than a dating service" and "Girls just wanna have funds," the ads even achieved pop culture status by popping up in action movie Speed.

Then, recently, the blurbs started sounding downright ominous, swerveworthy. "In the end, Johnny and Seinfeld just walked away. We're taking the bus," read one, while another lamented, "Eventually, everyone gets off the bus. Even us."

Do these latest executions signal the campaign's execution? Sadly, yes. "I've written the last bus headline of my career," said a wistful Pat Robertson, who's worked on SMB for 15 years, most recently with her own ad agency, BullsEye Communications, Manhattan Beach.

While the campaign has endured agency shifts and even a hijacking on the silver screen, the grass roots effort is losing out to merger mania: SMB has been acquired by Minneapolis-based U.S. Bankcorp and will be folded into its 14-state U.S. Bank chain. Hence, a need for a broader branding effort. "People ask, `How can you take them away from us? They're the only thing that prevents road rage,'" said Robertson, who isn't losing a client, just an ad vehicle. Those who'll miss the bus ads aren't entirely out of luck, either. A NewYork publishing house is planning to produce a book on the series.

The last ad runs in December: "After 20 years on the bus, we've reached our stop."

COPYRIGHT 1999 BPI Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group