Outram Park station ads about micromanagers, nasi lemak, atas coffee leave commuters puzzled

SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user shared photos of advertisements they spotted at the Outram Park MRT station that left them, and others, quite confused.

“Platform door ads at Outram Park station, what’s it trying to say?? 🤔🤔 There’s no advertiser brand anywhere,” wrote u/17122021 in a post on Reddit Singapore on Thursday (Oct 3).

They posted several photos of the ads. An ad on one side of the train doors said, “Micro-managers are more well-liked than cool bosses,” in white letters on a plain black background. The ad on the other side of the train doors in the same format declared, “Cool bosses are less inspiring than micro-managers”.

In contrast, the other sets of signs were contradictory.

One set read, “Nasi lemak is more satisfying than chicken rice,” and “Chicken rice is more flavorful than nasi lemak.”

Another read,“Looks aren’t as attractive as personality,” and “Personality isn’t as captivating as looks.”

The last set read, “Atas coffee is the real deal compared to kopi,” and “Kopi is more sophisticated compared to atas coffee.”

As the post author wrote, there is nothing that indicates who is behind the ad campaign and a search online has not shed light.

However, commuters may expect explanations to be forthcoming as these ads are likely to be teasers of some sort.

In the meantime, however, Reddit users have not held back from giving their opinions on the ads and answered the post author’s question regarding what they’re trying to say.

“It’s saying we have lots of money to burn that we can create ads with no call to action,” was a comment that received many upvotes on the post.

Another quipped that there’s a dearth of paying advertisers at the moment and that SMRT “just put random creatives to showcase their space to potential advertisers”.

One Reddit user may have cracked the hidden message behind the cryptic ads, writing that they’re telling commuters to “Pick a side and stand there” and to not be “a goondu and block the doors”.

Another agreed, saying that the people behind the ad want commuters to pick a quote between the two posted on each side that resonates with them more, as this is “in a small way” calling others to not block the way.

However plausible this may be, it may not fit the pair of ads regarding micromanagers.

“Both sides seem to imply that micro managers are better than cool bosses, so you have to agree with that regardless which side you stand on,” a commenter argued.

Some veered off tangent and commented how no one really likes micro-managers, with one noting that the term is almost never used positively.

A Reddit user may have summarized the feelings of many, writing, “None of it make sense.” /TISG

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