PNC Bank Hijacks W&D Santa. Claims 40-year Relationship

From the emails and notes Wednesday evening, the Maven wasn't the only long-time Fort Wayne resident who was disturbed during WANE-15's Night of Light's coverage.

Live, on-location anchor Dirk Rowley did an impressive job braving the winds and cold. Dirk was not the issue. 

His interview subject, a woman, identified as the President or Vice President of PNC bank was the culprit. Using talking points, obviously prepared by a PNC Public Relations flunky who has never visited the city, she enthusiastically attempted to claim a 40-year relationship with the iconic W&D Santa display After a few more questions from Dirk, she made a similar statement. This inaccurate 40-year relationship seemed to rub more than a few people the wrong way. Blame the Egg Nog?

The facts are, PNC bank has only been in the market since late 2008, early 2009, making the claim that PNC has been affiliated with the W&D Santa display for 40 years is faulty and false. 

This isn't the only instance of a successor company claiming heritage credit for a predecessor's hard work and vision. Kroger's Public Relations, while promoting the annual Cancer Day fundraiser, routinely claims Cancer Day as a Kroger initiative, conveniently forgetting that the Scott family began Cancer Day, also 40 years ago. 

No one really knows why local media just regurgitate the public relations codswallop as gospel truth and don't question PNC and Kroger for claiming credit for long-running, established community events. Might have something to do with those large ad budgets of both PNC and Kroger influencing how "their" events are covered. Just a guess.

Thanks to reader "Dave" for the tip...