Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -
The home of the Liberty Bell hopes to become a major gay tourist destination this year with a flashy national television ad campaign that begins running tonight.
The 30 second commercials, the first in the country to target the LGBT market in tourism, were the brainchild of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., which is sponsoring the ad campaign.
The spots will air on Bravo, MTV, VH1 and Style.
The commercial begins with a young men dressed in colonial attire writing a letter to his boyfriend asking to meet him at Independence Hall.
As the letter writer awaits his lover, he is approached by a woman who glances at him but he isn't interested. As she passes by the boyfriend arrives and the letter writer hands him a bouquet of flowers.
"This is an invitation, that you are welcome here, because of what Philadelphia is and what Philadelphia has to offer, and because we have a strong gay community," Meryl Levitz, president and chief executive of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing told a news conference to unveil the commercials.
Levitz said Philadelphia is not seeking to replace Provincetown or Key West as gay resorts, but to serve as an alternate destination to gay friendly cities like New York or Los Angeles.
The commercial is part of a three-year, $1 million campaign using the slogan "Philadelphia - Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay."
©365Gay.com® 2004
The 30 second commercials, the first in the country to target the LGBT market in tourism, were the brainchild of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., which is sponsoring the ad campaign.
The spots will air on Bravo, MTV, VH1 and Style.
The commercial begins with a young men dressed in colonial attire writing a letter to his boyfriend asking to meet him at Independence Hall.
As the letter writer awaits his lover, he is approached by a woman who glances at him but he isn't interested. As she passes by the boyfriend arrives and the letter writer hands him a bouquet of flowers.
"This is an invitation, that you are welcome here, because of what Philadelphia is and what Philadelphia has to offer, and because we have a strong gay community," Meryl Levitz, president and chief executive of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing told a news conference to unveil the commercials.
Levitz said Philadelphia is not seeking to replace Provincetown or Key West as gay resorts, but to serve as an alternate destination to gay friendly cities like New York or Los Angeles.
The commercial is part of a three-year, $1 million campaign using the slogan "Philadelphia - Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay."
©365Gay.com® 2004
This article originally appeared on 365gay.com. Republished with permission.
