Sign of times: Corporate logo on landmark

CENTER CITY - June 6, 2008 Unisys wants a 19-foot high logo on the 38th floor at Two Liberty Place, one looking east, one looking west, to mark its new corporate turf when it moves to Center City from Blue Bell next year.

"We want the brand to be associated with Philadelphia," Jim Kerr, Unisys spokesman, said.

It would seem a marriage made in heaven for a city that wants global recognition.

However, the towers' top floors are home to swanky new condos and some upscale and high profile occupants see the logo as a glorified billboard in their neighborhood.

"If we start opening up our buildings to put billboards up when you only own seven percent of the occupancy of the building, we're going to have all of our buildings occupied by blinking lights," resident Tom Knox said.

For the record, Unisys says the sign won't blink and won't be seen by those who live here.

Unlike some cities, such as Hong Kong, where corporate signage dominates, high altitude logos are the exception in Philadelphia.

On the street today, mixed opinions for some the Unisys plan is like stadium naming rights and others told Action News they see the logo as intrusive.