Violence in Advertisements in New York City Subway Stations: A Pilot Study

Violence has become a public health concern in the United States. Violent visually stimulating content encompasses various techniques such as fear, humor, shock, or violence, to stimulate a response or appeal toward awareness of human emotion. Exposing impressionable youth to violent advertisements can be particularly problematic. This is especially true in places like New York City where violent crime is a prevalent problem. With annual ridership reaching over 1.7 billion in 2014, the New York City subway system is abundant with advertisements. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the frequency and type of violent advertising on the Lexington Avenue/East Side Line in New York City, running through the Bronx and Manhattan to represent the lower and higher median income earning boroughs. There were no statistically different findings in median household income at site of station by number of ads or source of violent. Destruction was the most common form of violence (n = 32, 42.7 %) followed by intent to strike (n = 18, 24 %), showing a weapon (n = 15, 20 %) and horror (n = 10, 13.3 %). Most ads (n = 46, 61.3 %) were found in stations heading uptown toward and through the Bronx, the borough where median household income is lowest, whereas 29 (38.7 %) were found in stations heading downtown. Future studies could focus on additional boroughs and subways lines, and could be collected at multiple points in time to determine of how prevalent violent advertising is throughout New York City and at different time frames.