Astral’s The Movie Network is getting Torontonians ready for prohibition – a television show about it, that is. Set in 1920s Atlantic City, HBO Canada’s newest offering, Boardwalk Empire, about a crooked town treasurer (played by Steve Buscemi), is already being highly promoted on the channel, and now they’re taking the show to the streets.

On Tuesday morning, commuters at Union station were greeted by a team dressed up in ’20s garb, handing out copies of the Toronto Star with a cover wrap and $25 acquisition rebate cards for the channel promoting the launch of the show. This morning, the handout was extended to 21 GO stations in the GTA.

The street-level activity also includes a stunt conceived with TrojanOne in which ‘bootleggers’ will be driving around downtown Toronto in vintage trucks branded with the HBO Canada and Boardwalk Empire logos, complete with branded wooden whiskey barrels in the back. They’ll distribute postcards for the acquisition rebate to entice potential subscribers.

Astral’s OOH digital network will also be utilized, as digital boards in Toronto and Montreal will show a ‘Countdown to Prohibition’ through Boardwalk Empire whiskey bottles that lose liquid daily as the premiere date approaches.

And Boardwalk Empire will also be getting into the game, with creative and trailers appearing in Xbox’s OnDeck video carousel, as well as in-game ads for several Xbox games, such as Madden NFL 10, Need for Speed: Shift and Guitar Hero 5.

The series debuts Sunday, Sept. 19 at 9 p.m. It will be simulcast on HBO Canada HD, and new episodes will be available on demand. Episodes will also be available on The Movie Network Online with Bell TV after they’ve premiered.