Atheist bus campaign launches nationwide

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 13 Jan 2009

Atheist slogans have begun popping up on public transport around the UK in the second phase of the record-breaking Atheist Bus Campaign.

The campaign, which in October broke the Justgiving record for the fastest-growing fundraising appeal in the site’s history, was originally intended to appear on 30 buses in London for a month.

The provocative ads feature the slogan ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life’.

However, the success of the fundraising effort meant that the ads could be launched today, 6 January, on 1,000 London Underground posters as well as banners on 200 bendy buses in London and 600 buses elsewhere in the UK.

Comedy writer Ariane Sherine, the founder of the campaign, had aimed to raise just £5,500 when proposing the initiative last year, but the movement soon gained momentum, raising more than £135,000 and allowing for the ambitious expansion of the advertising effort, which is costing a reported £140,000. The effort was given a considerable boost by the support of best-selling author of The God Delusion Richard Dawkins.

The success of the British campaign has prompted copycat attempts in Spain, the US, Italy and Australia, according to Sherine’s blog in The Guardian.

All adverts in the UK will feature copy which emphasises the fact that the campaign was funded entirely by public donations.

Directory: JustGiving
Who's Who: Celina Ribeiro

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.