Ever wonder how long it would take you to wrap a 40′ foot bus in a full advertisement? The answer would be five to six hours, but only if you had a team of three workers to assist you. But in a pinch of SEPTA Movie Magic, our time-lapse video shows you the entire process in fewer than 3.5 minutes.

This video details SEPTA Hybrid Bus #8427 being wrapped in a full sized ad announcing SEPTA’s fifth annual “Stop Hunger at Your Station” food drive from October 7-21, 2013. In partnership with regional food bank Philabundance, the agency is encouraging riders to donate canned goods in marked barrels at more than 40 locations across the system. Approximately 72,000 people rely on Philabundance to meet their basic nutritional needs, and support from SEPTA riders is vital especially at this time of the year. “The items we collect through the ‘Stop Hunger at Your Station’ Food Drive are crucial in helping Philabundance feed families across our region by keeping the shelves filled and the doors of its almost 500 member agencies open,” said SEPTA General Manager Joseph M. Casey.

As a reminder to riders to contribute, the specially wrapped bus will tour the SEPTA Service Region during the drive, making special stops at collection locations throughout the two week effort. Taking unique advantage of the bus’ characteristics as a full-sized rolling billboard, but at eye-level to pedestrians is a great way to bring public attention to this important cause. According to SEPTA Senior Advertising Specialist James Dellipriscoli, the option of a full bus wrap is also becoming a popular option for traditional advertisers to also share their messaging to the commuters and communities that our vehicles pass through each day “We’re doing about 5 to 10 wraps a month,” he explained. After the messaging space is purchased through the authority’s advertising vendor Titan 360, the ads are then custom designed through a specialized process, sent to a 3M Qualified large format printer, and then forwarded a specially trained crew who applies the panels to the exterior panels of the bus. “The panels can be up from a few weeks to even longer” depending on the advertiser’s specification,” says Dellipriscoli. In fact, the panels are so resilient, they can stand-up to changing weather elements, and even regular trips through SEPTA’s bus washers.

Although some ads can remain on the buses for a while, the ad in this video will only be appearing during our special food drive. “We hope that riders will stop not only to enjoy the special styling that’s been applied to this vehicle, but also to share food items during this important time of year,” says SEPTA Surface Supervisor Michelle Norman who will be accompanying the bus again this year as it completes its tour of the Delaware Valley on our annual mission to assist needy families. To find out where you can give, check out the complete list of SEPTA Collection Locations at https://www.septa.org/events/philabundance.html.