Ex-Pittsburgher Elliott Falcione is a Penguins fan living in Tampa Bay Lightning country, but that’s not why he had to endure a nightmarish weekend for someone in Florida’s hospitality industry.
Mr. Falcione, a 1985 Baldwin High School graduate, is executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is located within the Tampa metropolitan area. Pittsburgh is one of the northern cities the tourism agency targets in broadcast advertising and other marketing, considering the Pirates have used Bradenton for spring training since 1969.
But Mr. Falcione discovered in recent days that such marketing can go too far when “Let’s Go Pens!