By Shari Kasman

Toronto desperately NEEDS another MEGA advertising campaign. Thanks to GO Mobile Media, our fine city can be overjoyed to have its “first mobile advertising vehicle and program exclusively designed to promote the city’s most popular tourist attractions and summer destinations.” The ‘GO TO’ campaign which began on May 1 features “a revolutionary new mobile advertising vehicle that will utilize a fully illuminated scrolling billboard system to display ads from the best events, venues and entertainment attractions Toronto has to offer.” Wow! What a sick and twisted way to promote tourism in Toronto! If that’s not bad enough, there’s the ‘GO Exclusive’ program which offers companies with the opportunity to use the vehicles for their own sick and twisted advertising campaigns.
Wowzers! This all sounds too good to be true! We’re lucky that we haven’t yet vomited upon hearing the news. If these trucks are anything like the Falcon Beach truck that we saw a few months ago parked on College St. in Little Italy, we’re in for a REAL treat.
The green GO Mobile Media trucks have a glass “fishbowl” showroom on their flatbeds and are capable of projecting project video onto three screens. Advertisers also have the option to cover the entire truck with an ad campaign. If that’s not enough to make you ill, there’s an external sound system for blasting the most technologically advanced in noise pollution! Their theory is explained as follows: “Consumers don’t stand still so why should your advertising?” Obviously, the folks behind GO Mobile Media have an interesting take on logic. William Kozma, president and CEO of the Toronto-based company, launched the project in the States to test the project’s success ands we’re assuming that it worked wonders for the media mongrels.
The teensy-weensy bit of good news is that the GO Mobile Media has an Environmental Operations Committee (‘GO Green’) that ensures environmentally responsible measures are put in place: billboards use recyclable materials and the vehicles are powered by bio-diesel fuel and rechargeable batteries. Unfortunately, the bad news outweighs the good news and the advertising trucks will be circling our city’s streets until September 4.