Vancouver’s Gastown BIA has a message for local cyclists: “Get your a** to Gastown”
The Gastown BIA of Vancouver, B.C. has a "cheeky" way of inviting cyclists to ride to the area, and by all accounts, it's working.
As the city’s historic birthplace, Gastown is one of the oldest, most beloved parts of the City of Vancouver, its skyline a series of classic buildings, its steam-clock sidewalks inviting residents to take a step backward in history just by walking them—or by riding alongside them. And for those who do indeed ride into the area on two wheels, its local BIA has a message: keep doing it.
The way that message is shared, the VanCity Buzz says, can best be described as “cheeky.”
That invitation has been extended by way of the neighbourhood-wide, liberal distribution of waterproof seat covers, often discovered as a matter of surprise by riders when they come back to their bikes at journey’s end. Throughout the area, riders have returned to find the BIA’s tokens of appreciation, their surfaces reading “Get your a** to Gastown”—and as words printed on a seat cover, the one partly-censored by asterixes appears in a very anatomically-appropriate place .
“There’s no doubt that Gastown is best explored by foot,” said Pamela Saunders, marketing and communications manager for the Gastown BIA. The waterproof saddle covers, the VanCity Buzz explains, are part of a marketing effort to get people riding their bikes when they come to the classic neighbourhood, expressed by the hashtag “#GetIntoGastown.” Along with the saddle covers, there are banners splashed with photos that best express the neighbourhood’s character, and along with images of cobblestone streets, they include one of the most appropriate sights: a bike.
“We wanted to use locations and images,” Saunders explained, “owners could instantly identify, and create conversation topics for them and their customers.” The surprise of a waterproof seat cover, especially in a place as notoriously damp as the Lower Mainland, certainly serves that purpose.
The closing words of the VanCity Buzz article’s authors, notably, speak volumes of the outreach initiative’s effect for local cyclists.
“Now that winter has placed its chilly, wet grip on the city for the next few months,” wrote Chris and Melissa Bruntlett, “it is truly a wonderful thing to have a dry saddle as we pedal through these shorter days, and dream of the beautiful summer sunshine to come.”
