Greyhound Moves Quickly To Remove Ads Following Murder
Posted August 5, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The horrific murder of a young man aboard a Greyhound bus last week has prompted the company to remove all traces of a recent ad campaign that may now be considered in extremely poor taste.
The Greyhound advertisements tried to lure potential riders by highlighting the peaceful and worry-free aspects of travelling by bus, and included the tag line: “There’s a reason you’ve never heard of ‘bus rage’.”
The campaign was launched last year and officially ended before 22-year-old Tim McLean was brutally murdered last week, but company spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh admitted some of the adverts are still up.
The company is working to take them down as soon as possible for fear they may now be found highly inappropriate.
“We realize that in light of the recent incident not only is the ad no longer appropriate but it could be offensive,” she stated.
On the street, offended was precisely most people’s reaction.
“I’m thinking they should take it down,” opined Dannielle Ullrich, staring at one of five ads in the York Street tunnel under Union Station. “We’ve heard of bus rage now.”
McLean, a carnival worker, was the victim of an apparently unprovoked attack on an Edmonton Greyhound bus bound for Winnipeg last Wednesday. Witnesses reported that his seatmate stabbed him repeatedly in the neck and then decapitated the young man.
Vince Weiguang Li, 40, is charged with second-degree murder. He appeared in court Tuesday where his only communication involved muttering the words “please kill me,” and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
“A psychiatrist will assess him to determine if he understands the process, if he understands the function of the judge,” said Crown Attorney Joyce Dalmyn.
He’s scheduled to appear in court again on Sept. 8.
