Roger Berkowitz: Elitist?

Last weekend, the Globe reported on a minor furor between the MBTA’s carmen union and Legal Seafoods. If you’ve taken the Green Line lately, you’ve seen the ads on the side of the trains that feature various fish making snide remarks. The T drivers were upset by an ad that claimed the driver of the car had “a face like a halibut” and the MBTA ordered their removal.

Legal Seafoods CEO (and Chowder tour guide) Roger Berkowitz tried to diffuse the situation with humor. Clearly, he forgot he’s dealing with a union, which proceeded to call Berkowitz an elitist.

Berkowitz “apologizes” in a new radio spot, saying that the company never should have said drivers look like halibut.

“Some look more like groupers or flounders. I’ve even seen a few who closely resemble catfish. And there’s one conductor on the Green Line that looks remarkably like a hammerhead shark.”

Har har. Kind of corny, but no harm, no foul, right?

“We don’t think his fish is as fresh as he is,” said Stephan MacDougall, president of the Boston Carmen’s Union[.] “He’s misguided and misdirected. He is suffering from elitism and needs to do some self-examination.”

It’s an ad about fish. Get over it. All that you’re accomplishing by lumping the fishmonger in with Barack Obama is giving Berkowitz what he wants—some free advertising. And judging by the MBTA’s finances, the last thing you should be doing is giving anything away for free.