Union Pacific: Building America Commercials

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About three years ago, America's railroads started advertising and I believe they have done a great job. The commercials are well-produced and entertaining. This is Union Pacific's newest.


One of my sharp-eyed colleagues at AccuWeather pointed out this brief scene in the commercial to which I have added arrows.
Those are AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions' SmartRAD® displays at UP's Harriman Dispatch Center. There is a great deal of glass in the room and the photographer used reflections off the glass to make a cool image.

The United States has six Class I railroads and we are proud to serve every one of them along with Amtrak and most of our "short line" railroads. When people think of railroads, they often think of hauling agricultural commodities like wheat (being harvested in the photo below) and they certainly do that. But, railroads also do a tremendous job of hauling truck trailers and shipping containers.
The BNSF train (above) is pulling about 150 truck trailers that, if they were not moving by train, would be on trucks clogging up highways. Plus, by moving by train, they get to their destinations with a lot less air pollution. Finally, notice that gasoline is less expensive? That is due, in part, to new sources of U.S. energy. Almost all of that energy is moving by rail.

So, when you see one of the railroad commercials that are running these days, keep in mind all of the good things modern railroads bring us.

Comments

  1. Steve SanerNovember 1, 2014 at 10:50 AM

    I saw one of these commercials on television recently and I wasn't really sure what to think about it in the sense that it isn't clear what the purpose of the commercial is. It isn't asking me to buy anything. It isn't asking me to do anything. It seems that it is only trying to make me feel good about railroad. Are there specific negative attitudes towards railroad (that I don't share) out there that it is trying to counter? I'm curious what you think is the purpose of the commercial.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mike SmithNovember 1, 2014 at 3:15 PM

    I think the average person in the 21st century isn't familiar with railroading and the commercials are an attempt to educate.

    ReplyDelete

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