Pennsylvania

Sometimes a clever marketing campaign has to be controversial ...

"Probably the most controversial project undertaken was the slogans on Billboards on the Schuylkill Expressway that Action Philadelphia put together. The idea was to empower Philadelphia residents with catching slogans to help promote the city.

"The first idea was reprinting the slogan developed with Elliott Curson, "Philadelphia isn't as bad as Philadelphians say it is". This slogan, was placed on a billboard on the Schuylkill Expressway near Conshohocken in January 1970 (shown at top). The Billboard had a dark blue background, and yellow letters. Billboards like these at the time were made by tracing out each individual letter, and then painting each. The reported cost of the first Billboard was $1000."

Reaction to the Billboard was mixed and mostly negative. Many people - both residents and business people were concerned with what was perceived as a negative tone or that the slogan implied Philadelphia was "bad". In an effort to convey a more positive tone, a later Schuylkill Expressway Billboard had the the Slogan "If you like Philadelphia, tell people. If you don't, do something about it" - using an empowerment theme."