Phoenix to tweeters: OK, fine. Here are some 'real views' of the city

Two days after Phoenix's official Twitter account started getting roasted for posting an altered image of the downtown skyline with verdant mountains, the city acknowledged it heard the critiques loud and clear.

"Good eye everyone - yes, yes... it was a composite photo we used. A beauty of a pic, but we see and hear you say you want to see some real views of #PHX. We've got those - Here's just a few," the city tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

On Sunday night, the city had tweeted an image showing a strange view, presumably from atop Piestewa Peak, looking south toward downtown.

The image was intended to welcome the Kansas City Chiefs to the Valley, after they secured their spot to face off against the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 12 in the Super Bowl, which is being played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.

But multiple Twitter users quickly pointed out peculiarities of the image, such as the greenness of the desert in the foreground. The downtown buildings lacked depth. Some were blurry. The lighting was inconsistent.

"I didn’t know I lived in a rainforest," said one Twitter user.

"Yes. Phoenix is a tropical paradise," said another.

Is that lush valley in Phoenix?Twitter has field day over city's Super Bowl image

By midday Monday, the tweet had more than 50,000 views — far more engagement than the city's other tweets. Those impressions kept racking up, exceeding 550,000 by Tuesday evening.

The attention on Phoenix's account was boosted after Maricopa County's official Twitter account piled on, jovially retweeting Phoenix's image and posting one of its own. It showed a mishmash of downtown Phoenix, the New York City skyline, mountains, the iconic Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign and other out-of-place additions.

And the Twitter dialogue didn't end there.

Phoenix continued the chain, retweeting Maricopa County's retweet, this time with a third comical image. Phoenix copied the county's composite but layered on a photo of tourists at the Grand Canyon. "You are actually using an old photo of #PHX. Here's the most recent one," the tweet said.

Eventually, Phoenix acknowledged Twitter users' desire for authentic views of Phoenix. The city posted four photos, offering "real views" of Phoenix: three of the downtown skyline and one of Papago Park.

Maricopa County retweeted the photos. This time, it was without commentary.

The farce was the second controversy this week over misleading images of Arizona shared on Twitter in an attempt to promote Super Bowl LVII.

The NFL on Sunday tweeted an image of four quarterbacks looking out toward State Farm Stadium. But the stadium appears to be nestled near the Grand Canyon, which is hundreds of miles north of where the Super Bowl will actually be played.

The Grand Canyon's official Twitter account responded: "We hate to break it to you @NFL, but we won't be hosting Super Bowl 2023."

Reach reporter Taylor Seely at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @taylorseely95.