Morgan Freeman has one of the most enjoyable voices around. A voice that could narrate the banal lives of penguins and turn it into an Oscar winner. A voice that that not only told us The Story of God, but also played the big man himself on multiple occasions.
Now, if you're living in Vancouver, Canada, you can listen to Morgan Freeman as you take the train around town. It has been announced that Freeman has recorded train announcements, to be played on select TransLink carriages across the city.
"Good news, Vancouver. Starting today, you can now tap your Visa to go anywhere TransLink takes you," says the Shawshank Redemption star in one announcement.
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"Hello bus riders. This is a smoke-free bus, but I'm sure you already knew that," he says in another. "What you might not know, however, is that you can now tap your Visa to go anywhere TransLink takes you. Have a great day."
A third goes: "Hello transit riders. Remember what your mom used to say: 'Please keep your feet off the furniture.' And also remember: You can now tap your Visa to go anywhere TransLink takes you."
Is there a theme developing here? What sort of credit card do I need again?
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"Ads featuring Morgan Freeman's voice are part of an ad campaign created by Visa," said TransLink spokesman Chris Bryan. Ah. Just when you thought it was a nice thing that was being done for everyone to make their day better, it turns out that it's all an elaborate scheme to flog us credit cards.
"Visa bought ad space on our system to highlight the ability to pay at fare gates using contactless Visa cards," added Bryan.
Visa themselves said: "We are excited to collaborate with TransLink to bring the ease and convenience of contactless payments to transit users across Metro Vancouver.
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"This launch is an important milestone in our journey to create a seamless payment experience for transit riders across Canada."
God, I love a payment experience. My Facebook photos are filled with images of my favourite payment experiences.
Of course, this isn't the first time that such a stunt has been pulled. In the wake of Manchester City's first Premier League win in 2012, it was revealed that their players would do the announcements on the new Metrolink line to their Etihad Stadium.
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Captain Vincent Kompany participated in the scheme, as well as then-manager Roberto Mancini, and goalie Joe Hart and midfielder James Milner (who now play for West Ham and Liverpool, respectively).
"This is Roberto Mancini from Manchester City. This is the Droylsden service. The next stop will be the Etihad Campus," became a favourite announcement among Manchester commuters, and even more so when he was sacked just three months after the scheme came into effect.
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