No, a skincare brand can’t solve NYC’s transit problem

The Ordinary, a cosmetics company known for its lower-priced, often single-ingredient products, just announced that it was furthering its mission to “remove unnecessary barriers to provide accessible, high-quality solutions.” To do so, it is offering people a free shuttle bus that runs between Williamsburg’s Domino Park and Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York. The company claims that The Ordinary Bus, which will run from May 26 through June 6, solves for a transit gap that can often involve a 50-minute subway detour through Manhattan. The tenuous parallel with the company’s skincare line is that it also provides a no-frills solution to a common problem (bad skin). In reality, what The Ordinary is offering is less a solution to a fragmented or slow public transit system and more a solution in search of a problem. Commuters in the area have access to several public buses to get between the parks, and the G train subway line provides an easy ride between both neighborhoods, though it won’t be running for 10 weekends this summer. (The Ordinary did not provide comment by time of publication.) [Image: The Ordinary] On social media, commenters piled on, quickly pointing out that the company created a bus route for higher-income, gentrified communities that don’t need the assistance (there are plenty of other communities in the borough that do). It’s understandable that the Ordinary wants to use its marketing dollars to reach affluent potential customers in Williamsburg. But the marketing stunt goes sideways when the company starts framing its branded bus as an actual public service. Lately, it seems as if companies have developed a marketing savior complex. In February, the prediction market company Polymarket opened a grocery store in the NYC neighborhood of Tribeca where users could collect items for free. The stunt was intended to draw attention to the rising cost of goods due to inflation. At the same time, its prediction market competitor, Kalshi, launched a sim