Last spring, the DC Cool campaign tried to lure in tourists with images of nights out at Le Diplomate and Eighteenth Street Lounge. Now the campaign is back with a holiday edition of cool—-this time boasting about “city sidewalks,” “unexpected treasures,” and “Georgetown charm.”

Destination DC—-the nonprofit that does D.C.’s marketing for tourism and major conventions—-launched the DC Cool campaign series last December as way to persuade tourists that D.C. has more to offer than just government attractions. As part of the campaign, they run ads like this “city sidewalks” one in magazines such as the New Yorker and New York—-a campaign that Kate Gibbs, a spokeswoman for Destination DC, says is successful, particularly given that Forbes recently named D.C. the coolest city in the country.

This specific ad is meant to highlight all of D.C.’s shopping opportunities, something Gibbs says people don’t typically associate with D.C. The DC Cool website currently features a winter shopping guide.

But what makes D.C. sidewalks so cool? D.C. sidewalks, after all, are more thought of as pedestrian safety hazards than anything cool.

Gibbs says this is a wink to the “Silver Bells” Christmas carol. (“City sidewalks, busy sidewalks” is the opening line.)

“The truth is there is a dynamism across this city, in this particular ad we focused on Georgetown,” she says.

Gibbs says the plan is to keep going with the DC Cool campaign and continuing running ads like this one.

“We are committed to DC Cool, and it is a success,” she says. “It mirrors the dynamism going on in D.C.”

Georgetown is currently in the midst of trying to reclaim its cool, throwing around a number of ideas to achieve this, including the possibility of a gondola connecting Georgetown to Rosslyn.

Photo courtesy of Destination DC