Philly Transit Agency Uses Photo of NYC on Rail Pass

Everybody at Philadelphia's mass transit agency, "SEPTA", was so pumped for the city's upcoming Beer Week, and them some annoying blogger had to come along and point out that the pass they were about to sell to discourage drunk driving had one teensy error: It depicted the skyline of New York City. Trendspotters have been trying to position Philly as NYC's sixth borough for years, so one can understand the confusion. But the Phillyskyline blog was unsparing in its derision, and then the mainstream media picked up the story, and now the poor designer who grabbed the wrong stock photo is probably out of a job and won't be able to afford to even live in the glamorous sixth borough anymore. Don't worry, unidentified Beer Pass designer, this might actually turn out to be your big chance to move up here and live under the skyline of your dreams—NYC isn't immune to stock photo skyline oops, so you'll fit right in if you're looking for work.

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By John Del Signore in News on February 12, 2009 9:27 AM

Comments [rss]

ed_Extinct

Why a skyline? Why not the Liberty Bell, or a rendering of Ben Franklin, a photo of a Philly Cheese Steak, Independence Hall???

I don't think of Philly, even they have one, as a skyline city.

Spirit of 76

I would have opted for a silhouette of Rocky Balboa in his famous pose with arms raised but added a beer mug in each hand.

cwd22

Philly's skyline didn't really start growing until the 80's due to the gentleman's agreement that no building would be taller than City Hall, but now that that barriers been broken the skyline's coming along quite nicely.

Think2wice

"Philly's skyline didn't really start growing until the 80's due to the gentleman's agreement that no building would be taller than City Hall."

Fascinating. Hopefully Philly can make up for lost time before it becomes another satellite city to NYC.

Kingpin

This sort of thing never ceases to amaze, you'd think someone could tell the difference between one city's skyline and another.

matty

This happened in chicago with those chase bank ads showing cross streets of atm's in chicago and half of the intersections were in new york. Just plain lazy, i tell you!

BrianW

But wait, there's more!

First, MSNBC claimed they could "clearly" see the Empire State Building in that NYC skyline photo.

SEPTA Philadelphia Beer Week Day Pass screwup

Then today the Philly skyline photo was changed again to one more recent. The "missing comma" error was also fixed.

SEPTA Philadelphia Beer Week day pass revised again and again

Think2wice

I wonder if the clueless graphic designers behind this and the NYC Condom clusterfuck were transients (ready to ditch Philly or NYC after a few years to go to the next stop on their itinerary) or natives/longtimers.

If the former, then hire only the latter. If the latter, then hire only the latter with brains.