Visit Philadelphia ad pits giant Ben Franklin against cheesesteak, provokes intracity argle-bargle

A new, surreal ad from Visit Philadelphia promotes Philadelphia’s cultural assets – and has gotten city residentsflummoxed.

The ad features a gigantic Benjamin Franklin battling a gigantic, whiz-spewing cheesesteak. Everyday Philadelphians and visitors are seen eating andstrolling down city streets as the Godzilla-style contest shakes the ground, Franklin attempting in vain to subdue the greasy sandwich.

In the video, the so-called “First American”is seen standing at a height somewhere between the heights of Liberty One and Liberty Two –or around 900 feet tall. In one of the grosser scenes, a string of viscouscheese whiz is seen splashing onto an Old City street.

Al Día’s Max Marin opined that the commercial was “effective and cheeky (cheesy?)” and had “potential for broad appeal.”

Other Philadelphiansviewed the ad with a less, let’s say,whimsical eye.

Philebrityremarked that “the ejaculatory sploosh of cheese whiz upon an unsuspecting city street” was disturbing.

Philly Mag’s Victor Fiorillo even penned commentary to voiceto his disdain for the “laughably bad” commercial. “There’s so much wrong with this,” Fiorilloflatly stated.

One persontweeted an existential question, “If Visit Philly is tired of Ben Franklin and a cheesesteak representing Philly, why would they feature both in their commercial?”

Another person mused, “I love Philly but this ad is very painful and sad.”

Local station Radio104.5 captured the general zeitgeist,”Wait…what?”

It’s definitely worth watching yourself.