Empire State Building dumps on Chicago's 'Bean' in wild online feud

[Orange]

 

Two landmarks—New York City’s Empire State Building and Chicago’s beloved ‘The Bean’, officially known as Cloud Gate—have erected a playful war against each other.

 

It all started with a seemingly innocent (or perhaps not so innocent) meme. The Empire State Building’s official account responded to the reopening of The Bean after a long renovation with a meme of Wendy Williams captioned “clap if you care.”

 

It then snarkily upped the ante by asking their followers how they’d incorporate The Bean into its profile pictures. But things took a turn when the skyscraper changed its banner image to a picture of a trash can, hinting at a less-than-favorable comparison to the Chicago landmark.

 

 

Chicago wasn’t about to take the shade lying down. Their social media team countered with a strategic video featuring The Bean itself, accompanied by the confident lyrics of Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us. The video highlighted Cloud Gate’s popularity—the Anish Kapoor structure attracts a whopping 20 million visitors a year—and its accessibility, a clear dig at the Empire State Building’s entrance fees.

 

 

 

Opening images: Haveseen and Songquan Deng | Dreamstime.com