Comedy Central's New York 7 Train takeover was a game-changer in the media world. We created a new lane of marketing that captivated consumers, competitors and talent alike while achieving massive results. We amplified our show's presence in a never-before-done way. Not even a week after Awkwafina’s voice began to take over conductor duties on the 7 train, comedian and San Francisco native Ali Wong was tapped to do the same on San Francisco’s public buses for a competitor. In short, Comedy Central opened the doors to a world of new possibilities in transit advertising.

Awkwafina (Nora Lum) burst onto the entertainment scene with her blockbuster roles in Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians, quickly establishing herself as a staple in young Hollywood. Her rise to fame reached new heights when she became the first Asian-American woman to win a Golden Globe for her role in The Farewell in 2020. Coming off the heels of her Golden Globe win, Comedy Central (U.S.) was set to launch its newest series, Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, starring none other than Awkwafina. For our marketing campaign, we wanted to leverage series star Awkwafina’s increasing unique appeal to successfully launch the freshman series with mass awareness, strong ratings and earned impressions. To complement our linear goals, we set out to do something unique that gave a nod to Awkwafina's roots and one of the show’s core identities.

We turned our attention to New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority (the MTA) to create a first-of-its-kind activation with something that all residents of Queens, New York, the series' titular borough, are familiar with - the 7 Train subway line. The MTA is ranked Number 7 in the world's subway systems, with annual ridership at approximately 1.75 billion and an average weekday ridership of 5.7 million. The 7 Train runs through some of Manhattan's busiest and most iconic stations like Times Square and Grand Central, all the way out to the heart of Queens. We wanted to leverage the scale and reach of the subway system to give commuters a little surprise and delight on their daily subway ride.

Because the borough of Queens, New York plays such an important role in the series' identity, we knew we wanted to target the borough and its' residents in a special way for this campaign. But we didn't just want to use standard targeted outdoor placements; we wanted to make a splash in the community. Knowing that the 7 Train subway runs with automated stop and commuter announcements (as opposed to those announcements being read in real-time by the train conductors), we set our sights on this subway line and partnered directly with the MTA to bring our idea to life, all while ensuring that we did not interrupt New Yorker's commutes (and believe us, you never want to do that!).

To promote the series, Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, we developed a first-to-market media stunt designed to draw attention to the show's premiere and pay homage to the series' titular borough. To do so, we disrupted Queens, New York natives' daily commutes by taking over New York City's 7 Train subway line, which runs through the heart of Queens. The week leading into premiere, Awkwafina became the guest announcer on the 7 Train, with custom audio recordings of her voice announcing every stop, as well as special announcements, using her signature comedic flare as the trains traversed between Manhattan and Queens.

This takeover was the first activation of its kind, receiving widespread national coverage and massive press attention. It generated an estimated $10MM+ in incremental media value and 36MM+ media impressions during its flight, an ROI of 5,600%+.The stunt was picked up by National TV programs (Live with Kelly & Ryan, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, among others), news outlets (NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX) and a multitude of trade and entertainment partners (AdWeek, AdAge, Variety, CNN, The New York Times, People, Vulture, among others). The activation generated an overwhelming amount of social chatter and awareness during its flight and lead to Comedy Central's best original series premiere since 2016, earning a .31 P18-49 rating, up +37% compared to prior Season 1 launches despite PUT (standard measure of People Using Television) levels being down -11% on premiere night and a 1.34 P18-49 share, up +54% compared to prior Season 1 launches.