This week the Bakerloo line gained new advertising! Its for Heineken’s 0.0 lager with pretty negligible alcohol (at the most 0.05%). Hence the Bakerloo was restyled as the Bakerl0.0 line! The 0.0 looks better in Johnston and that explains why the advert has a great effectiveness when one views it in that particular font.

Some stations began seeing parts of the advertising rolled out two days ago. I had used the Bakerloo yesterday but didn’t see any of this advertising at the central stations that were used. Today it was however very evident and it took me by surprise when I used those same stations – because evidently those stations had been furnished with the new advertising overnight. Thus today it seems its the day the Heineken 0.0 lager advertising is officially launched – in conjunction with that photographers were seen on the Bakerloo taking pictures of models sporting cans of Heineken’s 0.0 lager. In one Bakerloo carriage heading north I counted about twelve Heineken staff, models and photographers working on publicity or possibly in house shots. Mind you they were not drinking the beers! Heineken’s representatives no doubt had prior TfL authorisation in order to do this work.

Paddington Bakerloo with its Heineken 0.0 style roundels.

Major interchange stations have the branding at both ticket hall and platform level including roundels whilst other stations have it depending on the suitability of the location, which in some places was within the relevant subways from the escalators, stairs or lifts. The campaign no doubt means the line maps must have suitably large areas of non-print at the bottom for the adverts.

Embankment station with three Heineken tube line maps in view! Plus a Bakerloo line 100th anniversary plaque! Would that have been called the 10.0th I wonder?

TfL must absolutely thank its lucky stars the Bakerloo was cut back from Watford Junction nor did it ever reach Camberwell either. The large spaces on the Bakerloo line diagram maps certainly gave lots of opportunity for advertising space in the way Heineken had envisaged – and its because the changes that were made in the late 1970s and early 1980s made the Bakerloo line somewhat a shorter route than other tube lines.

How long the campaign continues is presently unknown but its designed to maximise advertising space potential without materially changing the line identity – for in the past any notion of materially changing station names got frowned upon. Even so in this new attempt TfL still changed two of the station names somewhat. Its fairly minimal although some disabilities will possibly still find it hard to read what Oxf0.0rd Circus and Waterl0.0 signify. Some on social media today have expressed their thoughts that the advertising was sacrilege. There’s no doubt TfL, in its attempts to find additional funding, gets caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of trying to satisfy all sides.

The London Evening Standard published an article today (Friday 9th January) on the Bakerloo’s Heineken make-over and says the advertising will last two weeks.

Two of the Paddington maps at least have a difference in the publicity extolled. In the above picture on the left can be seen ‘Keeping your social life on track’ whilst on the right it says ‘The UK’s favourite 0.0 lager.’ This latter is indeed a rare example of any substantial variation in the overall Heineken advertising scheme.

The best part of the advertising is that at Paddington which has stations placed in the wrong order! The line maps that can be seen coming from the main line station (pictured above), the Elizabeth line or the lifts via Paddington Square (that’s six line maps in total) contains the next four northbound stations in the following order after Paddington:

Warwick Avenue.
Kilburn Park.
Maida Vale.
Queen’s Park.

Kilburn Park and Maida Vale are the wrong way round!

Its clearly a Made-a-fail in terms of station placement order!

Piccadilly Circus also has the station order between Paddington and Queens Park reversed. The map in the subway below the Bakerloo platforms denoting N/B platform 1 has this mistake. Baker Street too has one – this is the map denoting N/B platform 9 near the bottom of the escalators. There wasn’t one at the top of the escalators (as there is for the southbound). This means at least three of the line’s stations feature Maida Vale and Kilburn Park the wrong way round. Some of the other stations also sported small glitches in certain detail but none were as bad as the Maida Vale/Kilburn Park switch. Paddington, Baker Street and Piccadilly Circus with six examples of this error stands out as TfL’s shining example of what not to do!

The subway beneath the Bakerloo platforms to/from the Piccadilly line had Heineken adverts too! That on the right also had Maida Vale and Kilburn Park transposed.

Stations with the advertising were to be seen at:
Waterloo (this was the most intensive and most prominent part of the campaign.)
Embankment.
Charing Cross.
Piccadilly Circus.
Baker Street.
Edgware Road.
Paddington.
Maida Vale.

In terms of the station names on the modified line maps, Oxford Circus and Waterloo were furnished with the 0.0 font thus ‘honouring’ the advertising’s message. Waterloo became Waterl0.0 whilst Oxford Circus became Oxf0.0rd Circus.

Surprisingly Oxford Circus station itself was excluded from the main advertising campaign as well as Warwick Avenue, Marylebone, Regent’s Park, Lambeth North and Elephant & Castle. I think Oxford Circus may have been excluded because there is already substantial specialist advertising here that might possibly have caused a clash of interests. At Waterloo however one of the Heineken line maps could be seen alongside a huge IG Investments advertising feature so maybe the Oxford Circus exclusion could be down to other issues – like possibly costs in terms of it being a top notch prime advertising location. BTW I’ll check some other stations tomorrow and update if any more have the campaign featured.

[Note: Oxf0.0rd Circus and Marylebone stations were added the next day – 9th January 2026. See The Bakerl0.0 (#Tw0.0).]

Waterloo was the centrepiece of the Heineken campaign, with all possible formats of the advertising in use.

Baker Street (like Paddington and Piccadilly Circus) saw a style that was limited to the station roundels and line diagrams.

Piccadilly Circus with its Heineken roundels. The last time the station had a comprehensive make-over it was styled Picardilly Circus!

One slight note of disappointment was TfL had saw it fit to place one of the Heineken adverts over one of the station’s unique historic panels. See picture below. No doubt the decal will peel off and the historic signage will be revealed once again. But was it necessary to do this?

Piccadilly Circus’ classic ‘How to Get to British Rail Stations’ style enamel panels are noted historic items at the station – there are eight of these I think – however as the above picture shows, one of the pair of historic panels on the Bakerloo escalators’ lower lobby was covered over and styled with a Heineken advert.

There is some discussion whether this advertising complies with TfL rules, since it appears to involve the mixing commercial advertising with what can be deemed essential service information. Not only that it entails a concept of drinking and that has to be of some concern because drinking alcohol is banned on the tube. Does this advertising condone drinking on the tube? It seems not but yet again there’s little doubt the purists will have a field day! Personally I’m quite undecided on the advertising, and besides, its TfL’s job to do what it wishes.

Like a lot of things, its up to TfL to decide what the boundaries are – as the examples of Baker Street and Edgware Road stations (below) show, they haven’t exactly dispensed entirely with service information and signage. The usual signage at Waterloo can be seen alongside that which has an advertising element incorporated. At the other stations the advertising is simply additional. The line maps could be an area of consideration since these clearly show the extremities of the Bakerloo line (eg towards Elephant and Harrow) as a train service that continues into the realm of liquid consumption. But that essentially is an area which I would think TfL has decreed there is sufficient realm to understand that the Bakerloo line does not, for want of a better way of putting it, service the realms of fantasy or imagination.

Baker Street’s line maps inside the station’s ticket hall area in order to compare a typical line map (the Jubilee line) and the Bakerloo with its Heineken advertising added. Its quite evident the Bakerloo isn’t going anywhere else (not even Camberwell or Lewisham). Patently there’s every indication that any ‘continuation’ of the route is merely advertising and not part of the service being offered.

As for Bakerl0.0 line (plus Oxf0.0rd Circus/Waterl0.0) its something TfL has digressed upon and they have decided it just about makes for what can be plausible legibility. Its a world apart from legible signage of course and that’s certainly something many will debate especially in regards to certain disabilities. The question, if anything is, why even continue with other advertising such as those that fully cover a London bus? Why have station subways and tunnels full of advertising too from floor to ceiling? Every advertising campaign TfL has undertaken has certainly brought out numerous objections – Burberry Street, Fold Street, Gareth Southgate, Green Planet, Picardilly Circus, Waterloo Roll etc. This latest will too no doubt however its ultimately TfL’s job to decide what is appropriate and what isn’t.

In the other direction this line map at Edgware Road shows the Bakerloo as continuing beyond Harrow & Wealdstone. Well, one only wish it did! It hasn’t of course since 1984 – and that even though the four rail system is still quite complete for most of the distance. Its now part of history despite the occasional call for restoration of services to Watford Junction. Again TfL isn’t implying anything beyond Harrow & Wealdstone (besides, the Lioness line – and also London North Western to a limited extent – provides a service north to Watford Junction). Its quite clear a distinction between the reality and the advertising has been done in a way to ensure the two are quite separate. BTW on one forum it was said Edgware Road station had the most accurate line maps of all the stations with the Heineken advertising.

A considerable variation in the advertising could be seen in the form of ‘Proud Partner of Bakerl0.0’ – this invariably showed up where the stations featured Heineken roundels (Paddington, Baker Street, Piccadilly Circus and Waterloo). That label was shown in three different formats – the most common being blue text and border on a white background – as seen at Paddington, Baker Street and Waterloo. At Piccadilly Circus a green background and blue font was used instead, whilst at Waterloo there was an extra version with white font/blue background. Thus Waterloo station was the only example to feature two different types. Not only that, the while/blue label was placed to the side of the roundel instead of below like the others. This was done because the seating here is sited immediately below the roundels. At Waterloo several other variations could also be seen in the advertising compared to that at the other stations.

As mentioned earlier Heineken personnel had been seen advertising the lager. A picture was published in the London Evening Standard today (9th January 2026) with Heineken saying they could get around the tube booze ban! The above is my own picture which was taken just after the train had left Waterloo station.

A somewhat larger version of the photograph shown in the London Evening Standard was featured in later editions of My London today.

A second part to this feature has been added with both Marylebone and Oxford (Oxf0.0rd) Circus stations part of the Heineken advertising from 9 January 2026.