Last December, Amazon launched a new clutch of data centers in London to support its extremely profitable cloud service business. You probably don’t care and almost certainly didn’t notice, and so to remedy this situation, Amazon has decided to confuse London’s commuters. The company has temporarily fiddled with the signage in the central Westminster Tube station (“alight for Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament”), changing the name on maps and roundels in the station to read “Webminster” instead.
Commuters are perplexed:
Why do all the Westminster tube signs say Webminster today? I know I was just napping but I definitely didn't dream that...
— Lauren Marks (@lmarks84) January 12, 2017
why has Westminster tube station seems to have been renamed?? this is real.. saw it this morning.. all the signs have been changed. pic.twitter.com/tbDwTpW8jO
— Fragz (Graham) (@fragz) January 12, 2017
Since when did Westminster become #webminster 🤔 pic.twitter.com/6xEV7eFWgA
— Ishaan Malhi (@Ishaan_trussle) January 12, 2017
Some have twigged the basic idea:
Has anyone seen that the Westminster tube sign has become 'Webminster'? I'm guessing it's some tech initiative... I know Smart Tosin!
— Tósìn (@DameTosin) January 12, 2017
Call me cynical, but you just know the whole #Webminster thing today at Westminster is going to relate to something very, very unexciting.
— Ross Carter (@Ross_C_Carter) January 12, 2017
And others have worked out who’s responsible (Amazon Web Services signage in other parts of the station presumably helped):
When @amazon had too much money so decided to pay to rename Westminster station pic.twitter.com/tYecBaJVcE
— Gio (@giovannicosta) January 12, 2017
It’s not actually the first time a corporation has bought (temporarily) a slice of the Tube. During the London Marathon in 2015, Canada Water station was briefly renamed Buxton Water. But that at least gets points for being a more straightforward pun, while even the generous-hearted would agree that “Webminster” is pretty groan-worthy. Other suggestions we’ve seen include Bermodemsy (Bermondsey) and Regent Spark (Regent’s Park). Leave your own ideas below if the spirit takes you.