Startups colonise New York subway, pricing out plastic surgery ads

Commuters pass Spotify Technology SA advertisements displayed inside the Union Square subway station in New York, U.S., on Friday, May 25, 2018. In a testament to the growing power of the city's startup scene, upstarts have helped push up the price of certain subway campaigns sevenfold in the past five years and chased away many of the surgeons and lawyers advertisements. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

You’ve seen them if you’ve been to New York recently or are one of the city’s harried commuters. Bright, colourful, funny, cheeky ads for startups selling everything from insurance to mattresses, plastered in every subway car and station. 

The New York subway had long been known for ads hawking questionable services from plastic surgeons and personal-injury lawyers. Then young, well-funded companies like Casper and Seamless realised that even in the age of Facebook and Google, subway ads are a cost-effective way to grab attention. In a testament to the growing power of the city’s startup scene, these upstarts have helped push up the price of certain subway campaigns sevenfold in the past five years and chased away many of the surgeons and lawyers.