'Blue Beetle' ad on Philadelphia Museum of Art steps receives bad reviews from locals, visitors
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- There is a new advertisement installation on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, however, locals and visitors don't seem to like it.
DC Comics superhero, "Blue Beetle" is sprawled across the famed Rocky steps ahead of the new movie's release and it seems like everyone has an opinion on it.
For Jim Osby Gwathney, the museum steps are the place to be as he sits at the base, watching tourists do what tourists do.
"This is one of my favorite spots," said Gwathney, who is an opera singer in Philadelphia. "This is the happy place. People come here from all over the world and they do the, 'I'm going run up.'"
Now, he's hearing some of those tourists question the new advertisement.
"I'm not even sure what it is. Is it permanent," Joyce Buky, who visiting from Kentucky, asked.
According to the city, the ad will only be on the stairs for the rest of the week and then the Rocky stairs will be back to normal.
"The movie poster -- I don't like it because it ruins this location," said John Marco Cipolla, who visiting from Italy.
"I think it's tacky to put an ad like this on such an old prestigious place," said Haron Daniel, who is visiting from Dallas. "There's plenty of spaces to put it."
The ad, which uses a series of stickers to install the work, covers all 72 steps. It was approved by the parks department, which maintains the museum and the stairs. According to a parks department spokesperson, the city is being paid $28,000 for the seven-day installation.
"The thing I love about Philly is, I'm pretty sure this is just trash. I think it's there because they did what they wanted and then they left it, and were like, you deal with it," Gwathney said.
Then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
"It gives color, it gives emotions. It's cool, it's fine," said Diletta Dinalle, who is also visiting from Italy.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art released a statement on the installation:
"As the city of Philadelphia owns the East Terrance stairs (the Rocky Steps) and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, decisions about how to use these stairs are made by the city; not the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
As such a recognizable landmark, we love the idea of using the stairs for promotional purposes and we would welcome opportunities to use these stairs to promote Philadelphia's emerging artists."