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Smart Way To Get Around: Finnish Company Renting Ad-Laden Smarts, Cheap
HELSINKI, Finland — If you don't mind the advertising plastered on the sides, you can rent a Smart Fortwo at the low, low cost of €5 (about $7.75) a day, plus fuel, here in the Finnish capital.
The idea came from Helsinki's O2 Media, inspired by similar offers in Germany and other European countries. The firm sells advertisements to local businesses to help underwrite the cheap car-rental proposition. The moving billboard that is the Smart must be driven at least 18 miles in the 24-hour rental period, and the rental agreement lets you drive as much as 62 miles for the same fee. Renters have no say in what kind of product they are promoting by using the car, although the company has not yet accepted ads from political parties, in part because of the potential for objections from renters.
Ilkka Tiainen of O2 Media told the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper that the rental program's targets are "young adults without a car of their own." Tourists to the cosmopolitan city should take note as well.
What this means to you: Helsinki on $8 a day. Pretty Smart! — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
The idea came from Helsinki's O2 Media, inspired by similar offers in Germany and other European countries. The firm sells advertisements to local businesses to help underwrite the cheap car-rental proposition. The moving billboard that is the Smart must be driven at least 18 miles in the 24-hour rental period, and the rental agreement lets you drive as much as 62 miles for the same fee. Renters have no say in what kind of product they are promoting by using the car, although the company has not yet accepted ads from political parties, in part because of the potential for objections from renters.
Ilkka Tiainen of O2 Media told the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper that the rental program's targets are "young adults without a car of their own." Tourists to the cosmopolitan city should take note as well.
What this means to you: Helsinki on $8 a day. Pretty Smart! — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
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