I first heard about Squirrel Truth when my husband was listening to Mike Pesca’s The Gist podcast. Ben Larrison was talking about buying silly ads on the CTA’s Red Line, and my ears perked up. I ride the Red Line. I like silly things, particularly those involving squirrels. I immediately began looking for Squirrel Truth ads.
But I didn’t see any.
After a few days, I did some frustrated investigation only to find that the ads weren’t due to go up until the following week.
I waited. Then, I started watching for them.
After a few days I saw one. I took a picture of it. The guy across from me, who probably doesn’t see a lot of people excitedly taking pictures of advertisements on the L, looked at what I was looking at. He seemed puzzled at first. Then he smiled.
And that’s the point. The only point of the Squirrel Truth ads.
As it says on the Chicago Transit Project website:
Hopefully, the ads are injecting a little silliness, fun and absurdity into the everyday lives of hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans.
They certainly brighten my day whenever I see them.
To date I have seen four different Squirrel Truth ads on five occasions. (I’ve seen one twice.) Below are the ones I’ve spotted so far.
The 7 squirrels wearing a human suit is the one I’ve seen twice, and I didn’t get a decent picture of it either time.
My favorite Squirrel Truth is the birthday one. I hope to spot more.
For more information on the Squirrel Truth ads and the …Vanessa? ads (which I haven’t spotted yet) check out the Chicago Transit Project website.
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