Reasons to Eurostar: How playful OOH turned a train ride into the obvious choice

Most people don’t put much thought into how they cross Europe. They just… fly. Or drive. It’s become an automatic move, even if it means endless queues, cranky kids, extra baggage fees, or two tiny seats between you and the next bathroom break.

It’s easy to forget that the journey can be the best part, and Eurostar’s new OOH campaign makes sure you don’t.

Here’s how they did it, and what any brand can steal from their playbook.

When your visuals make people look twice

Eurostar teamed up with adam&eveDDB and world-renowned illustrator Noma Bar on a campaign called Reasons to Eurostar. Their goal – to get people to pause before booking that flight or gassing up the car, and think: why not take the train?

Noma Bar’s signature style – clever minimalism, bold colours, playful use of negative space – is a perfect match. Each illustration merges two ideas in a way that only clicks on the second glance: like a sleek train silhouette tucked away on a public transport card, or a deceptive pun on ‘carry on’ that makes viewers wonder if they’re looking at a pistol or a suitcase.

It’s smart, it’s visually arresting, and it turns a passing billboard into a tiny moment of delight. That second-glance realisation (“oh wait, that’s clever”) is exactly the kind of micro-jolt that makes OOH so sticky.

The copy’s where the fun kicks in

Visuals might stop you, but words seal the deal.

This campaign is packed with short, punchy lines that poke fun at flying and driving, while giving train travel a wink. A few gems:

• “Time flies when you don’t” (because hurtling at 300km/h under the channel beats hovering over it at 40,000 feet in a queue for the loo)
  
• “Carry on with your carry-ons” (it’s not a gun law debate, just the added bonus of having no extra luggage fees)
  
• “Get a speeding ticket” (the only kind that’s actually a perk)
  
• “Maybe 6am trains are too early” (we see you, red-eye zombies – with Eurostar, you don’t have to get the first train out to make the most of your day)
  

Each line is crafted to be instantly gettable. That’s critical for OOH; you’ve got maybe two seconds to land a message before your audience is past it. It also means these ads work beautifully even if someone hasn’t seen the accompanying videos.

Why humour + simplicity is such a power move (especially in OOH)

We talk a lot about brand recall in advertising. Humour happens to be one of the most reliable ways to earn it. As adam&eveDDB’s Paula Hochberg put it:

“Every headline’s a little twist on what makes train travel the better choice.”

It’s those little twists that stick. When you can make someone smirk on the way to work, or while tapping their card at a petrol station, you become the brand they remember later.

As a category that could easily default to functional selling points (price, speed, legroom), Eurostar’s took a more human approach: entertain first, sell second. It pays off in memorability, which in OOH is half the game.

Media placements that reinforce the story

Of course, it’s not just what you say, it’s where you say it. Eurostar made sure these ads showed up:

• On roads leading to airports (cheeky move)
  
• At train stations and platforms (catch them just before the final decision)
  
• At car service stations (while you’re literally fuelling the alternative)

This contextual placement does heavy lifting. It reframes that moment of “I guess we’ll fly?” with a reminder that actually, a train’s pretty great too. It’s often faster city-to-city, more comfortable, and 20 times greener than flying.

So what can marketers learn from this?

A lot, actually:

• Use humour to be memorable. Don’t just be likeable, give your audience a reason to remember you. If your viewers laugh (or even just smile), they’re more likely to think about your brand when it comes down to it.

• Keep copy ultra simple. OOH is not for ten bullet points or tiny disclaimers, the best billboards make their point in a single clever line. Don’t overthink it, just ask: what’s your main point, and can you make it more engaging? Tossing up between product KSP’s or wanting to try a few different variations? Don’t restrict your campaign – make the most of programmatic OOH advertising to switch up your creative when you want, without all the fuss.

• Place your ads where the choice happens. Buying OOH near airports, petrol stations or travel hubs is a smart media strategy that nudges people right at the moment they’re weighing their options. Find out where your audience is, jump on a clever little interactive map, and pin down your screens

Imagine running your own clever OOH like this

It’s exactly the sort of campaign that could be supercharged with programmatic: test different lines by suburb, swap visuals by proximity to airports, trigger different jokes by time of day (hello, “Maybe 6am trains are too early” on that morning commute).

With platforms like me, you can do it all quickly, flexibly, and without locking into one-size-fits-all buys. Because in the end, it’s not just about getting your brand out there. It’s about getting noticed, remembered, and maybe even smiled at.

👉 Want to see how your witty campaign could light up the street?
We’ll help you test, tweak and scale it, so you’re remembered for all the right reasons.