Arizona tourism officials want to remind Chicagoans who have been suffering through days of bitter cold that the Grand Canyon state sees 325 days of sunshine a year.
The CTA Fullerton Red and Brown Line stop in Lincoln Park now sports pictures of people enjoying the snowless outdoors as part of its $300,000 "Warm Up in Arizona" campaign sponsored by the Arizona Office of Tourism. An oversized pair of sunglasses near the station's entrance is also part of the tourism spot.
Cities vying for Chicagoans' attention through ads on the CTA isn't not new. Florida's Amelia Island, Montana and Milwaukee are just a few of the places that have tried to lure Chicagoans with their promises of beaches, mountains and sausages, respectively.
But Arizona is going bold with the sleet shaming. Tourism officials will be handing out free coffee, flip-flops and Arizona hotel, golf and spa offers 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday at the Fullerton stop.
Karen Cahn, director of advertising for the Arizona for Office of Tourism and a Chicago native, calls the giveaways "random acts of sunshine."
"It just happened to work out that we happened to be here during your coldest days," Cahn said. The tourism office had a similar CTA campaign last year.
The state has a lot to boast about. In Phoenix there are 248 hours (about 10 days) of sunshine on average in January versus 130 hours (about 5.5 days) of sunshine on average in Chicago, said local retired meteorologist Frank Wachowski, who tracks Chicago climate.
The mean temperature in Phoenix in January is 59.9 degrees versus 15.7 degrees in Chicago, according to the National Weather Service.
For those who don't use the Fullerton station and want to know how much better life is in Arizona, a mobile trailer decorated with pictures of Arizona will be stopping by Chicago hotspots such as Millennium Park and Water Tower Place.
Cahn says Arizona sees 1 million visitors from Chicago, thanks in part to the Cubs and White Sox spring training.