The marketing department of Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) has been active again and is coming up with a new PR campaign for Christopher Street Day (CSD) this weekend in Berlin: As of today, the company is selling special tickets that come with either a condom or a sachet is, as well as “sticking tattoos”, as the BVG announced on Wednesday.
The ticket in the name “*icket” is valid on the day of the parade on Saturday, July 23, until 3 a.m. the following day in all BVG vehicles in the AB tariff zone. The ticket is available from special “*ticket machines” set up at a total of seven underground stations.
The tickets are therefore offered at Alexanderplatz (U8), Eberswalder Straße (U2), Frankfurter Allee (U5), Neukölln (U7), Nollendorfplatz (U2 towards Pankow), Wedding (U6) and Zoologischer Garten (U9). The ticket can also be bought in the BVG customer centers, the transport company announced.
“The *icket is a complete package for fun and safety on the road. With a wink, but also with the clear message: You are welcome at BVG, no matter who and how you love,” said Christine Wolburg, Head of Sales and Marketing at BVG.
Financially, the offer is definitely not worthwhile for passengers. As is well known, the nine-euro ticket can currently be used throughout Germany for the whole month. Condoms and sachets for protected sex are also given out free of charge around the CSD.
The campaign is above all a marketing gimmick by the BVG – again: in the past, the company caused a stir with an annual ticket integrated into a sneaker and an edible hemp ticket.