Long Beach Transit, the same day, posted a statement on its Instagram apologizing and promising to revamp its advertising policies in response to the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a reflection of our values,\u201d LBT\u2019s statement said, \u201cand we will update our advertising policies to ensure this never happens again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Little information about how the ICE ad made it onto LBT\u2019s buses, or how many ads ran in total, was initially available. But in a Thursday, Dec. 11 statement, the agency confirmed that the ICE recruitment ads were shown on seven buses on its 121, 131, and Passport routes before they were taken down.<\/p>\n
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Long Beach Transit issued a statement addressing a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruitment ad seen on one of their buses on Saturday, Dec. 6. (Photo courtesy LBT Instagram).\n<\/p>\n
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Long Beach Transit issued a statement addressing a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruitment ad seen on one of their buses on Saturday, Dec. 6. (Photo courtesy LBT Instagram).\n<\/p>\n
Expand<\/a><\/p>\n The advertisements were featured on digital screens, which were being used as part of a Long Beach Transit digital advertisement pilot program that the agency launched in January.<\/p>\n The pilot program, according to LBT spokesperson Arantxa Chavarria, offered bus riders free internet \u2014 which was paid for with revenue from the new digital ad screens. In total, the pilot program was implemented on 25 of the agency\u2019s 255 buses.<\/p>\n \u201cLBT has now suspended the pilot,\u201d Chavarria said, \u201cand is reviewing every element of the program to include a multilevel review process.\u201d<\/p>\n The pilot program was launched in January with partners tech company Kajeet, Galli Media and MessagePoint Media, according to a news release from Kajeet<\/a>. Just two months after the pilot launched, according to Kajeet, more than 2,000 LBT bus riders had used the new onboard internet option.<\/p>\n \u201cFor small businesses that can\u2019t afford traditional TV, radio or print ads, this presents a cost-effective marketing opportunity with a captive audience \u2014 riders who spend 30+ minutes on the bus, engaging with the screen,\u201d Kajeet said, also noting the pilot program provided similar marketing opportunities for national brands.<\/p>\n The ultimate goal of the pilot program, which was initially anticipated to run for a year, was to expand the digital advertising program to LBT\u2019s entire fleet of buses.<\/p>\n