The Philadelphia Eagles had to address an issue on Monday after counterfeit political ads featuring the team’s name and logo appeared around the city. The ads, found at various bus stops, falsely suggested that the Eagles had endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
In response, the Eagles issued a statement saying, “We are aware that counterfeit political ads are being circulated and are working with our advertising partner to have them removed.”
Despite the team’s efforts, the ads remained up as of Monday evening, prompting some South Philadelphia fans to cover the ads with copies of the team’s statement.
The City of Philadelphia clarified that these ads were not authorized, stating, “Illegally placed posters featuring Kamala Harris and the Philadelphia Eagles were put up in bus shelters. These were not official digital ads from the Harris campaign, the Eagles, SEPTA, or the media agency Intersection that manages the transit ad space. This was not a digital breach; someone illegally entered the secured ad spaces to place these posters. Intersection plans to conduct a full inventory of all bus shelters tomorrow and remove any illegal posters. The City’s review process for bus shelter ads did not apply here as this was not an approved digital ad.”
Some fans expressed frustration over the alleged endorsement, though many recognized the ads as fake.
“The very dumbest people on this app actually thought the Eagles were endorsing a presidential candidate,” one fan commented.
“Eagles backpedaling faster than their whole secondary,” quipped another.
It’s worth noting that the NFL and NFLPA launched the “NFL Votes” program in 2020, which did not endorse any specific candidate.