New York City has launched a new advertising campaign playing off the iconic "I Love NY" logo, but it’s now "We Love NYC.” No one likes the campaign, and for some reason, it’s taking an aggressive shot at Boston as well.
“We get more done by 8 a.m. than Boston does in a day,” reads the advertisement, seen in a photo posted on Twitter by user Debbie Saslaw on Sunday.
aside from the abominable design, this we ❤️ nyc publicity campaign is also very rude pic.twitter.com/hh1dLjWcaI
— deb (@butlikesrsly) March 26, 2023
Apparently, the display is part of the city’s new marketing campaign. The new “We❤️ NYC” message is intended to bring New Yorkers together, and apparently the way to do that is by insulting Boston.
How did Bostonians react to this new NYC tourism ad?
The image made it over to the Boston page on reddit, where locals sounded off with expected droll, and hilarious comments.
One wrote, “This is only accurate if a train wrote the sign,” which considering what’s been going on with the MBTA lately, is pretty on the nose.
Another called out a key data point, noting “There are ten million people in NYC versus about 700k in Boston. That means productivity per capita in NYC is actually lower.”
Another thought the ad was a great campaign for the Hub, writing, “Our education, tech and medical industries are as good or better than NYC and we get all that without having to grind ourselves to the bone? Sign me up.”
And, as a transplant from our city noted, “I live in NYC now and I can almost guarantee our mayor Eric Adams came up with it. He is so dumb. More interested in being a club promoter than mayor.”
Boston and NYC's long-standing rivalry
There has been a long history of the two cities having a rivalry, primarily based around sports. While the Red Sox winning multiple World Series in recent years seems to have calmed down the Red Sox and Yankees fued a bit, it’s still a thrill when our teams go head to head on any playing field. The Giants definitely gave the Pats and Tom Brady a few headaches over the years.
What is the We Love NYC campaign?
Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul kicked off the “We Love NYC” campaign last week with Hochul saying in a statement that “This 'We Love NYC' campaign will help to capture that energy and preserve the city's spirit by encouraging New Yorkers of every background to come together, get involved and make a positive change in their community,” according to ABC News. Read all about the reaction by actual New Yorkers in Time Out New York.
We love Boston
NYC has a lot to offer, but we’re going to stick with our cozy city--regardless of the high cost of living and issue-riddled public transportation system. But Twitter seems to think we have a little more work life balance:
They can keep their City That Never Sleeps. I prefer a City That Gets a Solid Seven Uninterrupted.
— Andy Tatnall (@AndyTatnall) March 27, 2023