We came across this billboard in West Oakland yesterday, actually one of several for the same company, concentrated in a small area. The company makes an app that invites people to talk about things in the location where they are at the moment. On the Apple app store, it gets a poor rating, with one commenter saying, “It’s Instagram without any of the features or users or support or design or implementation. Don’t waste your data downloading.”
But of course, our interest here is on the streetcar. The positive? It’s another example of how San Francisco’s historic streetcars have become iconic, a true symbol of the city, just like the cable cars. The negative? Well, they flopped the photo of No. 1040, and not very well. They Photoshopped in the destination sign so the lettering wouldn’t be backwards, but the car number is still obviously reversed and, oh yes, the streetcar is operating on the wrong side of the road (hey, maybe they should have used one of the Melbourne trams).
If what they did to the photo represents the quality of the company, well…
