Turns out operating a free (branded) bus is harder than it looks

Gaps in the market exist. So do gaps in transit. Makeup and skin-care brand The Ordinary was hoping to fill both.

In May, New Yorkers were surprised with the news that the brand intended to solve a longstanding transit problem in the city: the lack of a direct transit option between Brooklyn’s Williamsburg and Prospect Heights neighborhoods. The Ordinary Bus began running daily between Domino Park and Prospect Park on May 26 with plans to continue through June 9 at no cost to riders.

That dream, however, was cut short when the brand announced on Instagram on May 29 that the route had been suspended until further notice.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience this pause causes,” the post read. “We are working hard to get our bus up and running again soon, fingers crossed.”

According to the New York Times, the city shut the bus down due to a lack of permits. When asked about plans to address any issues or reinstate the service, The Ordinary declined to comment beyond its public post.

Prior to the bus launch, Jesper Rasmussen, global brand president at The Ordinary’s parent company Deciem, told Marketing Brew that the brand, whose bestselling products cost anywhere from $6 to $33, seeks to exhibit accessibility and quality in its marketing. Last spring, when a dozen eggs averaged $8.15, the brand sold $3.37 cartons at its NYC stores. But unlike selling groceries, it seems transportation issues can be harder to solve.

Bus, stopped

According to Rasmussen, the idea for The Ordinary Bus came out of conversations with customers online and in stores. There had been plenty of conversation online about limited transport options, including a recent viral post on X about going “from Brooklyn to Brooklyn” via Manhattan, leading up to the launch date.

“That was an idea that sprung off communication with the communities,” he said. “We’re not asking what you think we should provide access to.”

The goal, he said, was to service at least 1,000 riders over the course of the two-week activation, with the first 100 bus riders receiving The Ordinary’s Mini Icons sample set each day. The MTA reported that daily NYC bus ridership was about 1.3 million in 2024.

Permitting aside, it can be tricky for a brand to weigh in on topics like the high cost of living or a lack of social services, as evidenced earlier this year with grocery pop-ups from Kalshi and Polymarket. In the case of last year’s egg stunt, Michelle Baumann, chief strategy officer at VML, previously told us she felt it worked better than other brand activations because of The Ordinary’s focus on “no-nonsense, affordable products.”

Still, both the eggs and the bus left certain people scratching their heads and sparked discourse about the role of brands in solving broader societal problems.

“It was gross when the prediction market ghouls tried to give out free food to get more gamblers, and it’s gross when Ronald Lauder and company try to offer a corporate bus when public transportation exists,” one comment on the brand’s suspension post read, referencing The Estée Lauder Companies, which owns Deciem and The Ordinary. “Please, read the room.”

Other comments on the brand’s suspension posts ranged in tone from disappointment to confusion, with many commenters expressing an intent to ride. Before the launch, Rasmussen said the response from the public and in earned media was largely positive.

“Critics will say you’re not doing enough,” he said. “A thousand [riders] happy—is that not enough? I don’t know what is enough, then. I think it’s very important to do [something] real and solve something that is a real challenge for people.”

The problem, it seems, was not the intent to do something but how it was handled. Rasmussen told us his hope was to extend the activation into Labor Day—or even look at adding more bus routes. Should the brand be allowed to resume service, there’s still a chance that could still happen.

In either case, it seems The Ordinary has gotten the attention of the city and drawn attention to a transit gap in Brooklyn, which Rasmussen said he hoped to see as a result of the bus activation.

“Maybe,” he said, “it can inspire more conversations.”