New PBS subway ads seem to take issue with the current state of reality TV with posters for a slew of faux-shows including Knitting Wars (with the catchy catch phrase “It’s sew on”) and Married To a Mime.
Whether you’re a fan of reality TV or not, you’ve got to admit that the genre is pretty light on fresh ideas. That’s exactly the idea behind the New York-area’s PBS station Thirteen , which has posted subway ads for fake reality TV shows as a protest against cheap entertainment.
The prints advertise bizarre yet almost-believable reality TV programs with names like Bayou Eskimos and Bad Bad Bag Boys with an attractive image and unique tagline. Next to each poster, there’s a blank page which says “The fact that you thought this was a real show says a lot about the state of TV” along with a call to support “quality programming.”
“It’s pretty scary when you look out there and see what’s on television these days,” said Jeff Anderson, Executive Creative Director at CHI & Partners NY which created the images. “If New Yorkers want an inspiring and educational option, they need to get behind a network that we sometimes take for granted.”
In total, there are five such images, which will appear in subways until the end of June.
Singled out by other publications are posters for The Dillionaire and Knitting Wars . The former, called out by MSN , seems to be a parody of Duck Dynasty , and shows an apparent pickle millionaire.
Entertainment Weekly singled out Knitting Wars , admitting they “kiiiiinda” want to see it on the air, mostly due to the tagline.
This isn’t the first time that reality TV has been lampooned in popular culture. Our favorite “fake reality TV show we kind of wish was real” is still Tiny House, a faux-show about two newlyweds moving into an impossibly small home depicted in a Geico commercial.
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What do you think of the PBS subway ads? You can check them all out over at EW .
