‘Guess the Murders, Win a Prize:’ Philly Weekly Offers ‘Sweet Swag’ in Morbid Contest
(Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
The Philadelphia Weekly is turning heads after it announced a grim contest on its website Tuesday.
In a competition titled, “Guess the murders, win a prize,” the conservative alternative publication invited readers to guess the number of homicides that will have taken place between the beginning of 2021 and election day in November. The publication said the winner will receive “some sweet swag.”
Philly’s murder rate is on the climb, as noted elsewhere on this page, and the D.A.’s race is set up between incumbent Democrat Larry Krasner and Republican Charles Peruto. What do you think the city’s murder tally will be on Nov. 2, General Election day? Send your best guess to voices@philadelphiaweekly.com. We’ll keep track of all of the entries and send the winner (whoever comes closest to the right number) some sweet swag. Send your entries by the end of the month. Guessing tip: Look up whatever the murder count was last year on Nov. 2 and add 50 percent to it. Time to break out the calculator (or calculator app).
Philadelphia has already surpassed 200 homicides for the year. Last year the city saw 499 homicides, a massive jump from 356 in 2019. The number of homicides in the city has increased every year since 2016.
It isn’t just Philadelphia that’s had a spike in murders this year. A survey of 37 cities across the United States showed that murders had increased 18% in the first three months of 2021 over the same period of time in 2020.
“Congratulations, Philadelphia Weekly, you got what you wanted,” wrote Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Helen Ubiñas of the contest. “Here we are talking about your pathetic cry for attention.”
“There’s a special place in hell for this kind of cheap provocation,” she said.
Last week, Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner, a progressive, defeated his police-backed primary challenger Carlos Vega. The Weekly’s coverage of Krasner, a progressive, has been largely negative. Krasner, who defeated his Republican opponent by 49 points in 2017, is expected to cruise to reelection in November.
