WCAU, one of Philadelphia‘s earliest radio stations (first broadcast: May 22, 1922), could not sit idly by and allow Philadelphia’s less-than-stellar reputation go unchallenged — so it went on the offensive. The result: Just a Philadelphia Minute.
WCAU — “a CBS-owned station, represented nationally by CBS Radio Spot Sales” — produced this collection of 60-second spots that were created by a number of top Philadelphia advertising agencies. Incredibly enough, virtually no information whatsoever can be found on the Internet about this historic effort to rebrand The City of Philadephia. I can only guess that this album was issued sometime in the 1970s. The text on the back cover is priceless:
Just a Philadelphia Minute is in itself an end, and a beginning.
An end to Philadelphia’s dark ages and Chinese wall ugliness [?]. An end to a city thinking with an inferiority complex [!].
And a beginning that says Philadelphia doesn’t have to take a back seat to any place. A beginning that means a new spirit of positive action for Philadelphia.
The committed Philadephia advertising agencies who produced these 60-second spots constitute the beginning.
My favorite piece on this album is this jaunty musical number; needless to say, it’s the old-timey theater organ that steals the show:
[Pssst: Click the triangle above to play “Philadelphia Is the Greatest Little City in the USA”]
Considerably less effective is this spoken-word radio spot in which the tough-guy announcer appears to berate the listener into appreciating Philadelphia’s charms — or else:
[Pssst: Click the triangle to play “How Long Has It Been Since You Visited Philadelphia?”]
