Where's King Kong when you need him?
New York's Empire State Building set off a towering inferno of indignation amongst local football fans on Jan. 29 when the iconic edifice lit up green and white to honor the Philadelphia Eagles' NFC Championship win.
The Eagles beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 and will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl on Feb. 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ.
"Fly @Eagles Fly," the 102-story structure's account tweeted, flying right into a flock of hostile feelings on social media, particularly among New York Giant fans, whose team had been eliminated from the playoffs last week by their NFC east rivals - the Eagles.
"Why?" one tweet read.
"Is this real???" one person tweeted. "I hope this is a fake account."
"Here's an idea... Let's make our own city genuinely angry at us!" - The Empire State Building marketing team" another one tweeted.
"man I wish I could be in that Monday morning meeting to hear who thought this whole debacle was a good idea," came one comment. "way to p*ss off every New York fan in your own city."
"King Kong should have destroyed you," one particularly irate person declared.
Even local politicians jumped into the skyscraper scrap, wth New York City Councilman Justin Brannan calling for "a Local Law to amend the New York city charter and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to removing every goddamn lightbulb from this building."
The Empire State Building, which opened its doors in 1931 and owned the title of the world's tallest building until 1970, got into the light show business in 1932 when a searchlight beacon marked the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States.
Colored lighting was introduced in 1976 and the tower lit up in red, white and blue in celebration of the American Bicentennial.
The 1,454-foot establishment has honored sports teams before, but mostly local ones, like the Yankees and the Mets.
In the end, the Empire Building folks realized the error of their ways and came in off the ledge.
"That hurt us more than it hurt you," a post on the building's twitter account said. "We’re now lit for the @chiefs in honor of their AFC Championship Win."
See you at the Super Bowl.
