What Is That--Some Kind Of JOKE?!

Uh, yes. At least, it was supposed to be.

The folks at Legal Seafood have--or should I say "had"--an ad campaign on the Green Line promoting their fresh fish by having cartoon fish in posters making fresh remarks. You know, stuff like "This trolley gets around more than your sister," and "This conductor has a face like a halibut."

HI-larious! OK, maybe not. But still, it's just a joke, right?

Not to the Boston Carmen's Union (which is not, I learned to my surprise, a labor organization involved in the performance of French opera). "If they don't come down, we will not drive those trains." Oh, please.

The folks at Universal Hub absolutely nail this story in one paragraph:

Let's see: Green Line trolleys are falling off the tracks and getting into fatal smashups. Downtown Crossing is catching on fire and Red Line trains have to slow down so they don't fall off the Longfellow. And what is the Boston Carmen's Union so upset about it was threatening a work action?

Fish jokes.

What makes the story even better is reading blog postings of limp-wristed Bostonians defending the carmen and denouncing the ads as offensive. "Why can't we put up posters that compliment the carmen?" one local whines.

As hokey as these Legal Seafood ads are, it turns out Roger Berkowitz is still too hip for the room.