Johnson plans GLA advertising slash

Boris Johnson, the new Mayor for London, is planning to pay to put more police officers on the streets of the capital by slashing advertising budgets for the Greater London Authority.

Johnson wants to employ 440 more police community support officers to patrol buses and Tube stations at a cost of £16.5 million, and will take some of the money from advertising budgets covering Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police.

Both departments have produced a number of high-profile campaigns recently, including Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy's Operation Trident campaign for the Metropolitan Police that saw the agency create a hip-hop song and video targeting London's youth.

However, WCRS also recently proved that effective advertising can also be made cheaply with its "moonwalking bear" ad for TfL. With a low production budget and minimal media spend, the ad has now received more than ten million views on websites.

Johnson, who has pledged to make crime his main focus, has also promised to mount an inquiry into bureaucratic waste at City Hall, which is expected to lead to 14 jobs being cut from the Mayor's 70-strong publicity team.

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