Thank you, Birmingham, Alabama - our recycling saviours!
Citizens of Birmingham Alabama we thank you.
It seems you have been integral to Birmingham UK reaching its 2007/08 recycling targets.
How exactly you are helping us deal with our refuse is anyone's guess, but Birmingham City Council certainly seems pleased with you.
So much so they have printed the above graphic containing Birmingham Alabama's cityscape onto a leaflet that was delivered to 360,000 Birmingham UK homes last week.
Pretty silly of the council not to recognise its own cityscape you might think?
Well, we could be charitable. We all know mistakes can happen and newspapers must always tread carefully when criticising others for picture-related cock ups.
Yet when we approached the council for their comments they seemed to say that the Birmingham Alabama cityscape was no accident.
This is the second print run of the Recycle: Your Questions Answered pamphlet and, according to a council spokesman, it was fully aware that the skyline in question was not our beloved Brum.
The Alabama skyline was chosen, we are told, because it was "a generic skyline picture" that was "meant to symbolically represent an urban area".
So I guess the council must be all out of urban, skyline pictures of Birmingham UK.
Or perhaps the Birmingham Alabama skyline just does the job better?
*It appears our friends in Birmingham Alabama are equally mystified about the skyline mix up.
Commenters on The Birmingham News website seem to have taken comfort in the fact that it is not only their leaders that are "less than sharp".
The Birmingham Terminal thinks that the council and West Midland Conservative MEPs need to talk more, as both have at some point mixed up the skylines.
Also see more reaction on our follow-up blog post.
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At least we know where the designers get their images from - iStockphoto.
A difficult mistake to make - "Alabama" is clearly in the description if the photo, so maybe we're not crediting the Council design department with a touch of wry humour.
I'd rather believe that than stupidity.
He he - brilliant.
It seems odd to 'want' a generic skyline beneath the caption "Thank you Birmingham!", but nice try council.
There's an incorrect picture when you google "IMAGES OF BIRMINGHAM UK" - which is probably where the City Council got the picture from in the first place!
A shocking mistake by Birmingham Council. Where is the photograph on the front page taken from.?? I am sure that the water dam in the bottom of the photo is not Edgbaston reservoir.
As an Alabama native, I just would like to say, "you're welcome!!!!" Birmingham, UK, gave us all a great chuckle!
Wish our US city was as committed to recyling as its "cousin" in the UK.
Nancy Lea
Steve, if that's the case and they nabbed a picture off Google without contacting the copyright owner then they are even dumber than we first thought (if that's possible).
I seriously hope Jon's suggestion is correct. Perhaps it's a protest by the council's design department over the pay restructure?
"Like its Midland namesake, Birmingham, Alabama, is an city built on industry and manufacturing"
Obviously "an city" of illiterates!
I was browsing through Virgin's in-train magazine yesterday on the way back from London and there's a picture of Victoria Square printed backwards. So the council are not the only ones to make mistakes.
At least Virgin got the right Birmingham though.
Shouldn't we be querying the Recycling Departments decision to issue leaflets in the first place?!
The resources should have been spent on improving the service, rather than creating more waste.
and they say that brummies are thick - I wonder how we get this stereotype...
Was Marketing Birmingham responsible for this? This blunder sounds awfully like them - getting wrong images, not knowing where the city is or what it has to offer.
I believe they are also missing a comma. It should be "Thank you, Birmingham," but who am I to criticise.
Meme,
You are someone with a valid point of grammar to make - thank you!
I have corrected my title.