A tale of two cities: Birmingham city council makes boo-boo on its location

Seems that the members of Birmingham City Council aren't sure exactly where their city is located.

More to the point in a recent marketing campaign to promote the achievements of residents and their participation and achievements in recycling, somehow the city council of Birmingham, England instead promoted the city of Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.A.

It must have been really embarrassing since the photos that were supposed to show places like the Selfridges building and the Rotundra located in the UK city, instead showed a shot of downtown Birmingham, Alabama.

Go figure that they look exactly the same...at least to some people.

The error was spotted by a resident of Birmingham - the UK city - who just happened to be a regular visitor to the U.S. location, and upon retrieving a pamphlet stuffed in his mailbox noticed what was supposed to be a photo of Birmingham, UK. but was instead the American city. Upon further checking it out in Google, he found the very same photo as on his pamphlet but this one was in Birmingham, Alabama.

That's some mix-up!

Initially, City Council officials claimed no mistake had been made and the "generic skyline [was] intended to symbolise an urban area".

Of course! After all - a city is a city is a city, even if it's in another country! I knew that! Didn't you?

A spokesperson who was not named (what a surprise) commented: "We accept that the wrong photo was used, but the text and detail contained in the leaflet is wholly correct which is the most important message."

Of course. The medium is the message...unless it's in the wrong place.