Newspaper Ad Feud

[naviga:font face="LucidaGrande"]

[/naviga:font]

At left is a San Francisco Examiner newspaper ad that ran in early November, 1986. The ad depicted a couple sitting in front of a television set with the caption, "For a lot of people, the view in Des Moines is the same as the view in San Francisco." The first paragraph in its body text also read: "If you're going to spend your weekends in front of a television set, you may as well move someplace where the rents are low and the parking is plentiful. It seems like an awful waste, though, considering all there is to do right here (San Francisco)." The poke upset officials in Des Moines who then unveiled their own response ad (right) showing ballet star Rudolph Nureyev and challenged the Examiner to run it, during a press conference on November 18.

Fences were later mended, though, as Des Moines officials in January, 1987 offered San Francisco residents a chance to win a free weekend in the Iowa capitol, and Des Moines publisher Connie Wimer was given the key to the city of San Francisco by Mayor Dianne Feinstein on February 3, 1987.

[naviga:font face="Helvetica"]

[/naviga:font]