I’LL DRINK TO THAT

July 26, 2011 • 9:51 am • POSTED BY bradley

As both branding practitioners and Philadelphians, we’re all–trust us–acutely aware of our distorted image among the nation at large. It goes a little something like this (all together now): “Cheesesteaks, Ben Franklin, and Rocky, oh my!”

And sure enough, the Tin Men who populate the New York–ahem–national media have opted to trot out the wheezy warhorse yet again. Ugh.

It’s one thing for GQ to rate Philadelphia #6 in its recent “40 Worst-Dressed Cities in America” feature. It’s another to lethargically line up all the usual suspects (and more) as they detail our allegedly legion sartorial felonies and general gross misdemeanors against aesthetics. From Ben to Rocky to Whiz, the gang’s all here.

Oh, and this otherwise fine magazine called Philadelphia “P-Town,” which automatically consigns the reporter in question to whatever circle of hell hacks populate. Last I checked, “P-Town” was the nickname of a beachside berg located 400+ miles northeast of Philadelphia and its national reputation among the best dressed was nothing less than FABULOUS!!!

I would enjoy directly shaming the offending scribe’s writing ability, eyesight, and general manhood in florid, graphic terms. But given the evidence of his preposterous yet all-too-predictable laziness in depicting Philadelphia, well, he’d never even bother a feeble response. So whatever.

Anyway, this is not simply an instance of me getting my Irish up and howling at the moon. I’d really like to take a moment to juxtapose those who earn gentleman’s C’s with those reporters who bother to do their homework. Case in point: The New York Time’s Style Magazine’s recent feature “Drink Up: North Philly Beer, Part 1.”

Bravo to the Times for stepping out of Madame Cliche’s stereotype wax museum to shed a little light upon the Philadelphia we natives recognize as home. Fantastic taprooms and bars. A crazy-ass bounty of tasty local craft beer. Witty bartenders. All doing their part of create not only a beer culture that is the envy of the nation, but a dynamic, entrepreneurial, fun city that is large enough to accommodate all kinds, GQ’s mullet-headed mooks and quote-unquote beautiful people alike, not just a bunch of tired, moldy chestnuts.

So let’s all lift our glasses and celebrate the (sadly) rare success of the national media confirming what we Philadelphians have all known for a long, long time. Don’t worry about being late to the party, fellas. Welcome to Philly. In fact, let us buy you a drink.