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  #1  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 3:37 PM
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Calgary skyline ripped off

Calgary skyline ripped off
Is this our city, or a South Korean economic hub?
Kerry Williamson, Calgary Herald
Published: Monday, July 23, 2007


One is a $640-billion industrial and maritime centre on the South Korean coast that has sprouted in just a few years and is expected to drive the Northeast Asian country's emergence as an international player.

The other is a city on the Prairies, nestled near the Canadian Rockies, an oil-rich hub with more than 100 years of history, a place that is emerging as an international leader all by itself. And, apparently, they look exactly the same, down to the pokey tower and skyscrapers.

"I think we should be like 'where's my credit,' " said Joe Fardell, president and CEO of Tourism Calgary. "I wonder who owns the rights?"

Calgary's iconic skyline appears in a full-page colour advertisement on page 62 of the June edition of The Economist, one of the world's most influential news magazines.

Only the thing is, the advertisement isn't for this city, and doesn't mention Calgary. And what it is advertising is very different from our fair city.

The display ad is for a monumentally massive emerging business centre in South Korea, called the Gwangyang Free Economic Zone, an area on the southern tip of the country on the Korea Strait.

It features a red carpet leading right into the Photoshopped city, a carpet that would run along 6th Avenue if it were real. And it features a headline proclaiming "We invite you to create a successful business in Northeast Asia!"

Northeast Asia? Or the northeast community of Abbeydale?

"At first, I felt like I was being ripped off," said Bruce Graham, head of Calgary Economic Development, "but as I thought about it, I'm actually quite flattered."

"Of all the skylines in the world these guys could have used, they actually chose Calgary's," Graham said.

The picture is so clearly of Calgary, albeit with a few towers switched around, that the folks at this city's development agency believe we may actually get a boost from Gwangyang's ad.

"More than a couple of times an architect or an urban planner would suggest to me that downtown Calgary is lacking in vitality and appeal and architecturally isn't up to standard," said Graham.

"But I guess it's all in the eyes of the beholder. The bottom line -- we are flattered by it."

The magazine offered no comment on the advertisement, other than to say it was designed by a London firm on behalf of the Korean free economic zone authority.

The Economist is well aware of Calgary. In 2006, it ranked the city as the second best in the world for business travellers.

Brent Ritchie, head of the World Tourism, Education and Research Centre at the University of Calgary, said the designers of the advertisement should be "hammered" for their use of the city's skyline.

He pointed out that photographs of the free economic zone are dramatically different from what the advertisement portrays by using a picture of downtown Calgary.

"It's kinda sad-looking. It really is a misrepresentation, and I think it's quite unprofessional and I don't think they should be doing it," said Ritchie.

"They must know they were going to get picked up on it. It just seems a kinda silly thing to do, you just don't do these things."

Fardell, however, said that any publicity is good publicity, even if that publicity is a tad confused.

"It's a tribute to our skyline," he said. "And it's free advertising for us -- if anybody knows where it really is."

kwilliamson@theherald.canwest.com




© The Calgary Herald 2007
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  #2  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 3:41 PM
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This thread is nothing without pictures.
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Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 3:42 PM
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^^^ Damn straight!

I'm still laughing at it though! However I'm sure some of our more "uptight" forumers think us Calgarians will use this as yet another ego boost!
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Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 4:16 PM
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Speaking of ripping off, did anything come out of Surrealplaces' pics and the use in the Transformers movie promos? I noticed that the next round of advertising seemed to have stopped using them...

OT, but this thread is kind of silly to begin with.
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Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 4:25 PM
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We need to see the pictures!
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Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 4:36 PM
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Last edited by Doug; Jul 23, 2007 at 4:42 PM.
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Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 4:39 PM
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(this is doug's picture - I just fixed the name -> required a capital P in "picture1.jpg" instead of lower case)
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Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 4:42 PM
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Who cares? This isn't exactly uncommon in Asian Economic marketing (to use Western office buildings) Just go to their website (http://www.gfez.go.kr/english/index.html) and you'll see downtown Houston.

"World Tourism, Education and Research Centre" at the University of Calgary? Who are the losers that major in that?
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Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 5:02 PM
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i know this is semi-interesting to us, but man, the Herald must have really been hurting for stories yesterday...
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  #10  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 5:14 PM
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Originally Posted by The_Bow View Post
"World Tourism, Education and Research Centre" at the University of Calgary? Who are the losers that major in that?
You know that may not be a bad thing to major in seeing as we have the freaking Rocky Mountains and plenty of other tourist spots around us here. Maybe those "losers" could help our tourism and bring in more money to this province when the oil dries up, or in the meantime just for kicks.

I've known plenty of losers who majored in other fields as well, keep the cheap shots to yourself man.
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  #11  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 5:31 PM
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You know that may not be a bad thing to major in seeing as we have the freaking Rocky Mountains and plenty of other tourist spots around us here. Maybe those "losers" could help our tourism and bring in more money to this province when the oil dries up, or in the meantime just for kicks.

I've known plenty of losers who majored in other fields as well, keep the cheap shots to yourself man.
Hahaha! Loser.
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  #12  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 5:36 PM
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Hahaha! Loser.
I rest my case, I think we can all figure out who the loser is here.

PS: My epeen is bigger than yours.
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Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 7:11 PM
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They didn't choose a very flattering photograph.
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  #14  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 9:00 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by freeweed View Post
Speaking of ripping off, did anything come out of Surrealplaces' pics and the use in the Transformers movie promos? I noticed that the next round of advertising seemed to have stopped using them...
Apparently I missed that, what happened?
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  #15  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 10:08 PM
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Originally Posted by CorporateWhore View Post
i know this is semi-interesting to us, but man, the Herald must have really been hurting for stories yesterday...
This was actually the cover story on one of those free newspapers that they give away near transit stations. I don't know if it was Metro or 24 hours or what.
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Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 10:17 PM
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Originally Posted by ScottFromCalgary View Post
This was actually the cover story on one of those free newspapers that they give away near transit stations. I don't know if it was Metro or 24 hours or what.
Front cover hey? Truly amazing journalism. In recent memory, this is only topped by the Journal story of how two Edmontonians became the first in line to try the Krispy Kreme in Calgary, thereby proving that Edmonton rules and Calgary drools.
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Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 10:25 PM
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Originally Posted by CorporateWhore View Post
Front cover hey? Truly amazing journalism. In recent memory, this is only topped by the Journal story of how two Edmontonians became the first in line to try the Krispy Kreme in Calgary, thereby proving that Edmonton rules and Calgary drools.
hahahaha we live in an exciting place!
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  #18  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2007, 11:31 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottFromCalgary View Post
This was actually the cover story on one of those free newspapers that they give away near transit stations. I don't know if it was Metro or 24 hours or what.
I love those Metro pushers.
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  #19  
Old Posted Jul 24, 2007, 3:16 AM
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Just realized this story was actually on the front page of the Herald as well (below the fold). For shame.
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  #20  
Old Posted Jul 24, 2007, 3:00 PM
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how come they didn't use edmontons?
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