For the love of all that is holy, do not become an “escaleftor.”

Kevin Harber / Flickr

We’ve heard it from Metro transit agency’s general manager, Paul Wiedefeld, who said back in 2017 that the transit agency doesn’t promote riders walking on the left side of the stations’ escalators, because it could damage the equipment. “We prefer that they stand as they move up the escalator, but also we know what people will do what they want to do,” he said. We’ve heard it from academia, too: A Mississippi State University professor said that the whole “Stand right, walk left” mantra is less efficient overall than folks standing still on the moving stairs, two to a row.

And now, we’re hearing it from the District’s own tourism board, Destination DC (yes, they of “D.C. Cool” fame). An advertisement released this week identifies an “escaleftor” as someone who doesn’t care “it’s common courtesy to walk left, stand right,” and as a “dude who is so relaxed, he loses all spatial awareness.” Then comes the M. Night Shyamalan-worthy twist: the ad wants you to be an escaleftor, stymying the man behind him who keeps saying “excuse me” and “you’ve got to be kidding me” with increased exasperation. Stunning. See for yourself:

It turns out that the ad is part of Destination DC’s campaign to compel locals to staycation in the District, rather than spent their vacation money elsewhere. “Stay Local DC” launched in late November, and is designed to “increase visitation and overnight hotel stays when the average daily rate for hotel rooms is traditionally lower than other months,” according to the announcement for the campaign, which will last through the end of February.

Among the campaign’s offerings are “playful” 30-second videos mean to show “how to get out and take advantage of what D.C. has to offer, fully enthused, without breaking the bank or traveling far,” the press release said. The videos won’t air on TV. It’s a digital-only advertising strategy that targets locals, defined as people with zip codes within an hour of the District. Destination DC is the city’s official marketing organization, and it’s a private nonprofit funded in part by Events DC, a quasi-public organization.

Translation: one exciting way to be a tourist in your own city is to piss off fellow residents! Because apparently, it’s very relaxing to stand in place while someone is screaming in your ear.

Destination D.C. President and CEO Elliott Ferguson tells DCist over email that “the idea behind escaleftor is to poke fun at something that most Metro riders have experienced, getting stuck behind someone who isn’t adhering to the all-important unwritten rule of stand right, walk left. The goal is to get locals to view D.C. through a vacation mindset—take a beat to enjoy yourself in Washington, DC like you’re a visitor, and slow down.” The ad cost a “nominal fee,” per Ferguson.

But the video has not exactly gotten people in a vacation mindset. An emblematic response to the tweet? “I hate you with the fire of a million suns right now. Please delete your account and throw away anything even remotely close to connected to the Internet.”

“We knew it was going to spark conversation and we expected some buzz and varying responses. Facebook and Instagram feedback has been mostly mild, and we know that Twitter is a conversation, and we’re glad people are engaging with us,” Ferguson says. “Overall we feel like the goal has been achieved, people are talking about the campaign, and it’s getting exposure to all of the amazing things the city offers.”

As the saying goes, all publicity is good publicity, and the advertisement has already been viewed more than 75,000 times.

Then again, the whole advertising campaign is designed to “support the goal of driving potential visitors to the Stay Local DC website,” according to November’s press release, and the staylocaldc.com website doesn’t appear to be working currently on desktops. (A Destination DC spokesperson says it’s supposed to redirect to this site and has been working just fine on mobile—we can confirm that—but no dice for me so far on my work computer.)

Oops! Screenshot via Internet Explorer

This story has been updated with comment from Elliott Ferguson.

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Filed Under: destination dc, escalator, staycation,