Walking along Adelaide St. in downtown Toronto this weekend, MiC found ourselves running after a bus for an entirely different reason than catching a ride – its clever ad wrap.

MiC first noticed the bus as it was looking much sportier than usual, camouflaged under a vinyl wrap featuring a sporty yellow coupe. A closer look revealed that the larger-than-life image was fitted to the bus so that its wheels effectively became the wheels of the car – smart. Overtop of the car was its raison d’etre: the arrival of the grandaddy of all car shows, Top Gear, on Shaw Media’s History Television.

The series (10×60) is an Americanized version of the wildly popular British series of the same name, which has been running on and off since 1977. It arrives on History Television Wednesday night at 10 p.m. in HD. 

A quick call to Shaw Media confirmed the bus wraps are just part of the media campaign supporting the series premiere. Targeting Toronto’s car lovers, the vinyl wraps are accompanied by bus kings, 30- and 10-second radio tags and newspaper print advertising.

Media and creative were handled in-house by Shaw.

Spotted! is a regular column in MiC, complimentary to all readers, profiling unique and innovative advertising we see out and about. If you see something you think is Spotted! worthy, let us know!