Montreal Put Up an 88-Foot-Tall 'Charlie Brown' Christmas Tree, and Locals Are Furious
The enormous tree, with a string of lights measuring more than 6 miles, was meant to give New York City's Rockefeller Center tree a run for its money.
Even Charlie Brown couldn't have picked a worse Christmas tree.
Montreal's towering tree has taken social media by storm — and not in a good way.
The 88-foot-tall balsam fir was erected in the French-speaking city's annual holiday market, held at the Place des Arts. The tree, illuminated by a string of lights measuring more than 6 miles long, was meant to give the one in New York City's Rockefeller Center a run for its money.
But the result was underwhelming to say the least.
Montreal's Christmas tree looks like it was just released from Xmas tree rehab and needs any spare change you might have for a bus ride home pic.twitter.com/DbcHdy28M6
December 6, 2016
The #Montreal #ChristmasTree is like the person you take home after last call. Looks OK when it's dark & you're drunk, but come morning...
December 7, 2016
The tree even appears lopsided in some photos.
nothing like a nice flat top christmas tree in montreal's artistic area. give is character.. #thetophattree pic.twitter.com/i4hoyB8RT6
December 6, 2016
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The cringeworthy tree now also has its own Twitter account, @SapinLaid, which translates to "ugly fir."
One tweet reads: "I'm proof Montreal is tolerant."
Je suis la preuve que Montréal est une ville tolérante #TLMEP #KissMeImUgly
December 5, 2016
Although the man responsible for the tree, Philippe Pelletier, has been personally dragged into the firestorm, he told InsideEdition.com he is surprised by the negative reaction.
"We didn't expect that much controversy about a Christmas tree," Pelletier laughed. "What we realized [was] people don't really like when something is out of the box."
Pelletier, founder of local Christmas tree business Sapin MTL, explained that when they were invited to participate in the city's holiday display, they wanted to do something big to attract attention.
While he admits they originally wanted to compete with the iconic Rockefeller Center tree in New York, "What we wanted to present was a totally natural Quebec Christmas tree, without putting more branches and diamonds inside."
Read: Thief Takes Page From the Grinch's Playbook, Steals Family's Christmas Tree in Broad Daylight
He said the entire display was up within 72 hours.
"We didn't have a month like New York," Pelletier added.
Locals are also holding Montreal's town mayor, Denis Coderre, and Canadian Tire, which is sponsoring the tree, responsible.
Watch: These Kids Are About to Find Out They Have a New Adopted Brother Under the Christmas Tree
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