NBC to ABC: “Nyah-Nyah”

Walking around the Lincoln Center neighborhood recently, I noticed some eye-catching signage: a wrap-around billboard touting NBC’s Today Show as the No. 1 talk show in America. This was very noteworthy, but not necessarily for the reason you might think.

The most obvious reason for this billboard is for NBC to proclaim that: You see, America, even though we lost Katie Couric to the CBS Evening News, we brought in Meredith Vieira and kept the Today Show in front of ABC’s Good Morning America. (And Vieira was brought in from ABC, no less!)

But the real reason for the billboard’s placement is even less subtle than that — for the billboard is directly across the street from the ABC News offices, including those of the executives who make Good Morning America.

One might argue that I, as an ABC News contributor, might be a teensy bit biased in this matter. But I think even the most objective judge would have to agree that the billboard amounts to a whopping knock upside the head from the good folks at NBC.

This reminds me of when my childhood best friend Richard LaPoint wore his Miami Dolphins knitted cap all year long, even in the heat of summer, after the Dolphins beat my beloved Steelers and went on to win the Super Bowl.

Other examples of rub-it-in-your-face behavior, corporate or otherwise?