Hasta La Creative!

Washington, D.C., is celebrating one of its only advantages over New York: fewer rats in the subway system. This ad, running in the D.C. Metro, begins, “Unlike some subway systems (which will remain nameless), you don’t see rats the size of house cats roaming Metro.” This ticked off New York Times writer Jennifer 8. Lee, who says it’s “a little out of form for [one] city to needle another about our rats.” She also doesn’t think the reference to house cats is fair, “unless they are very small house cats.” A Metro spokesman says it’s not meant as an insult to New York at all, saying, “It can [refer to] any other transit system. It doesn’t make reference to any other transit property at all.” Technically, this is true. New York’s war on rats has been well documented, of course, though its primary focus remains the vermin above ground—particularly those who patronize KFC and Taco Bell.

—Posted by Tim Nudd