Solace for Squirrels

Walking through the Montreal underground the other day, I noticed an ad put up by the transit commission. The STCUM (societé de transport de la communauté urbain de montreal), or St. Cum (as we anglos like to call it) had created a series of ads to encourage transit users to be more considerate. This particular ad was warning against illegally blocking subway doors, calling it an "illegal delay". Given that Montreal has strict language laws about all signs being in French, the ad reads, "blockage de portes: retard illegal". The only problem with the ad (apart from the bad graphics) is the fact that it takes on an entirely new meaning when read in English. And given that Montreal is a bilingual city, odds are good that you might do so. The placement of the text doesn't help, clearly placing "illegal" before (though slightly lower than) "retard". So you can probably understand why I suddenly burst out laughing when I saw this ad from the transit commission blasting all of the "illegal retards" who enjoy blocking subway doors. In case you don't believe me, here's the ad in all of its glory.


Maybe I'm just crazy, but I'm no illegal retard. Someone in their marketing department either has a great sense of humour or should have their head checked.