Two New York athletes loom over Philadelphia on billboards

It's the dreaded morning commute from the northeastern suburbs into Center City, and you're already in a dark mood. To top it off, rush hour has you snarled in some heavy traffic on I-95.

Then, just past Bensalem on the way into Northeast Philadelphia, you look up, and to your right, you see a hulking billboard with an eight-foot image of Eli Manning. A few southbound miles later, to your left, with the Ben Franklin Bridge in the background, you see a grinning, oversize Derek Jeter.

What in the name of Cliff Lee is going on here? Why are two New York - hated New York - sports icons greeting Philadelphia fans - root-until-you-bleed Eagles fans, Phillies fans - before you've had your first coffee on Market Street?

Both athletes are hawking designer watches. Manning, the quarterback of the reviled New York Giants, is the pitchman for Citizen, and Jeter, legendary shortstop for the loathsome New York Yankees, is the face for Movado.

"Hmmm. Doesn't bother me as much as it makes me question Movado's sense of geography and judgment," said Meryl Levitz, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., which is about to put up its own billboards welcoming Lee's return to the Phillies' pitching rotation. Levitz said at least one of the billboards will be prominent on I-95.

In case you've been living under a rock the last 24 hours, Lee turned down offers from the Yankees and the Texas Rangers to come back here to pitch.

One billboard will read like a postcard: "Dear Cliff, You are . . . This is . . . I promised myself I wouldn't get choked up. Welcome Home. With Love, Philadelphia XOXO."

Alyson Gottlieb, vice president of advertising for Citizen Watch Co. of America, had an explanation for the Manning ads. There's a second Manning billboard on I-95 northbound, after leaving Center City.

She said Manning was one of three "brand ambassadors" in the U.S. for the company based in Lyndhurst, N.J. The other two were Paula Creamer, the U.S. Open champion on the LPGA golf tour, and Matt Kenseth, a NASCAR auto-racing champion. Creamer, who has been a brand ambassador for six years, also has her own billboard on I-95 northbound.