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May 21, 2024

New York MTA Winds Down MetroCard Sponsorship Program, Starting With Vampire Weekend Co-Brand

The famous transit cards, which have depicted everything from musicians to fashion brands, are being phased out due to the rise of tap-and-go payments.

By  Brendan Menapace

The album cover for Vampire Weekend’s fifth studio album, “Only God Was Above Us,” is a surrealist snapshot of a subway car covered with graffiti and decay. A faceless character’s shoes give away the influence of the late 20th century in the Big Apple, along with the fact that the album title is plucked straight from the headlines of a 1988 New York Daily News article about an airline incident.

Vampire Weekend is a quintessential New York band, and the depiction of a subway car on its latest album makes it the perfect group to use on an MTA card, right?

In an increasingly cashless and even card-less society, you can pay for a subway ride with a tap of your smartphone or smartwatch. However, the MTA still gives out paper cards for riders. And, in the past, they’ve used the card’s real estate for promoting the city’s artistic identity. The collaboration between the New York MTA and Columbia Records with the Vampire Weekend-branded card is the latest example.

In the past, the MTA used the cards for commemorating the life and career of David Bowie. The New York skateboard-shop-turned hype brand Supreme even made MTA cards that sold like hotcakes on the resale network.

Most recently, the MTA made cards branded for New York artist Ice Spice that were so popular that crowds descended on the subway stations that sold them.

The Vampire Weekend cards are currently available at the Union Square and Grand Central subway stations.

The MTA has created more than 400 limited-edition MetroCards so far, but it appears that the program is winding down in favor of electronic payments. The agency announced just last week that there will be only two opportunities for co-branded cards left, not including this Vampire Weekend/Columbia Records release.

“Creating one of the final custom MetroCards is the perfect opportunity for a brand, artist or cultural institution to cement its place in transit history,” MTA Chief Customer Officer Shanifah Rieara said in a press release. “While the MTA continues to shift to tap-and-go payments by using a bank card, smartphone or wearable device, these last two cards will undoubtedly become instant collectibles.”

Rieara could be right. A quick eBay search shows the recent Ice Spice cards going for around $20. Past versions depicting the Notorious B.I.G. or the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus versions are going for hundreds.

As the cards are phased out completely, their value on the resale market could go even higher as a cultural artifact. On the downside, the end of the cards means one more opportunity for high-traffic print advertising (no pun intended) will disappear.

Still, it appears the MTA will find other ways to market itself with tangible products. It joined other transit systems in the United States in creating full-fledged merchandise programs. And a collaboration with New Balance brought a government agency to the level of a must-cop style icon.