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The TTC didn’t initially plan to run the announcements — which elicited a mixture of praise and irritation from its ridership — for any specific period of time, the service’s communications director Brad Ross said. He decided to wind the campaign down at the end of August out of concern they could become repetitive and begin to wear on people.

“We ran the risk of perhaps overstaying our welcome and overdoing it a little bit,” Ross said. “We did what we needed to do.”

Photo by Richard Shotwell / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

In a dozen brief, colourful announcements that aired throughout the campaign, Rogen asked TTC riders to adhere to an array of behavioural norms. In different clips, he told listeners to refrain from holding subway doors open (“I don’t need the hassle, or the delay, so leave dem doors alone!”); to stop resting their feet on empty seats (“While feet are cool, please leave them on the floor”); and to never, ever leave clipped fingernails or the crumpled remains of their dinner behind at the end of a commute (“I can’t believe I have to say this! Just stop!”).

Social media posts show reaction to the recordings was mixed. Some riders appreciated hearing a celebrity’s voice in the midst of a long, banal commute. But others thought the announcements were obnoxious.

“I hate the new Seth Rogen TTC announcements so freaking much,” Stephanie Cooke tweeted. “It just sounds like a very loud man yelling into the PA system. It’s very jarring at 7:30 a.m.”