NATO Gets Basic Facts About Chicago Wrong

By Chuck Sudo in News on May 3, 2012 7:40PM

A major tip of the chapeau to TimeOut Chicago editor in chief Frank Sennett for alerting us to this video showing NATO has a lot to learn about Chicago.

Or they can just make shit up. Here's what they got wrong about basic Chicago facts.

- Chicago is the capital of Illinois. (Downstaters may agree with them on this.)

- President Obama grew up in Chicago.

- Chicago Tribune founder "Colonel" Robert McCormick built McCormick Center.

Here are some other problems with the video:

- The city's architecture was highlighted by "one of Donald Trump's famous towers."

- The "legendary jazz music" the city is famous for is represented by not only jazz musicians but also a photo of bluesman Buddy Guy.

- "If there's one place in the United States where Europeans can feel at home, it's Chicago." (Chicagoans, on the other hand, are another matter.)

- They made an Al Capone reference that ended with "today, it is clear that the gangster's days are over." (Wait until they meet City Council.)

- The "wind in the sails" reference that closes the video is tied in with a shot of the Marilyn Monroe statue in Pioneer Court that most people in this city cannot wait to come down.

Thankfully they didn't wade into the Cubs-White Sox or "soda or pop" debates.

The Chicago NATO host committee told Sennett that they asked for the inaccuracies to be corrected