The Oyster card has become synonymous with the Tube, but do you know how it got its name?
Think about how many times a day you tap in and tap out without giving it a second thought. Many of us use contactless cards, phones or smart watches to tap in and out of public transport these days, but the trusty old Oyster card is still an iconic fixture of London life.
Whether you’re jumping on the Underground, the Overground, the DLR, a bus, a tram, or – if you’re feeling a bit fancy – one of the river services, you know you can count on your Oyster card to get you from A to B. But have you ever wondered how this trusty little blue card came to get its iconic name?
The card launched in 2003, though the idea had been in the works for a few years before that. Picking the right name was no small task – there was actually a proper naming process, with serious research behind it.
Two other names were in the running: Pulse and Gem. Ultimately, Oyster came out on top as it was ‘fresh’ and had no obvious link to transport, ticketing or London.
Andrew McCrum, the man brought in by Saatchi and Saatchi Design to find the name, explained the reasoning: “Oyster was conceived… because of the metaphorical implications of security and value in the hard bivalve shell and the concealed pearl.”
He added: “Its associations with London through Thames Estuary oyster beds and the major relevance of the popular idiom ‘the world is your oyster’ were also significant factors in its selection.”
There’s also an interesting bit of history around who actually owned the Oyster name. The card came about through a contract between Transport for London and a company called TranSys, which meant the brand originally belonged to TranSys. When that partnership ended in 2010, TfL had to buy the rights to the name – and it didn’t come cheap, setting them back £1 million.
So next time you tap in, remember that London really is your oyster.
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