17 October 2005

Monday Miscellany: Bland Brand and a Tag




From the city that brought you Izzy, Atlanta has a new 'brand' and logo. All of it relates to the theme of "Openness, Opportunity, Optimism." I am not sure what to say about it. There is so much material to work with here that it staggers the imagination. If this was an attempt to create a "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" kind of brand, it has fallen far short. I wonder how long it took to come up with three words that begin with "op". Opportunity and optimism are trite and dull, but okay. Openness? I suppose they had to settle for openness since tolerance does not have the proper opening letters. Overall, it seems to be the safest theme and logo tax dollars could buy. Do you find it significant that one of the key members on the board creating this thing works for Coke? For those of you who are not Atlantans, "Atl" is pronounced by saying each letter "A.T.L". Kinda like the ATF, but more violent.

Separated at birth?












I would've preferred something with some real southern flavor:
Atlanta: Whatayahave? (a la The Varsity, or What goes in your stomach, might stay in your stomach)
or techno-savvy:
Atl: Our name is easy to text message!
or maybe:
Atlanta: Better than Birmingham!
What do you think, fine readers? What would be a better brand for Atlanta?


Grammar note: I originally typed "I would of preferred" in the paragraph above. I have found it to be a common error among my students since they know can't use contractions in their formal writing. Because of the phonetics, they cannot extrapolate "would have" from "would've".

Alabama note: I visited Birmingham last January for a convention and found it, in fact, to be a lovely southern city. It has a first rate art museum and still maintains a bit of a small town feel. I would like to return and wouldn't mind moving there.


The lovely and talented Buchusa Blutterspangle tagged me. Since it is not a terribly involved tag, I saved it for my Miscellany:
1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas...
5. Tag five people to do the same.

"The entire family is 'super'."

Taken out of context, it is unclear to which family the sentence refers. The use of "entire" as a modifier of "family" is both vague and hyperbolic; does this mean every relative or only the immediate family? The quote marks around the word 'super' suggest either sarcasm or skepticism. The short sentence and simple words strongly indicate an author of limited intelligence.


Peace

7 comments:

Scott said...

Atlanta: the city too busy to drive properly!

Atlanta: 10 mph over the limit is okay here!

Atlanta: like L.A., but smaller!

The city that taste forgot.

Atlanta: Pollen-town U.S.A.

Atlanta: a better post-Olympic city than Sarajevo!

Atlanta: Campbell-free since 2002!

fiorinda said...

I vote for "the city that taste forgot"

Splitcat Chintzibobs said...

This is way too easy.

Scott said...

It is not wise to ask for reader input and then cheapen its value.

Splitcat Chintzibobs said...

My comment did not refer to the quality of the input, but rather the ready vulnerability of Atlanta to sloganeering. My assignment was not very challenging to such quick-minded readers. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

Splitcat Chintzibobs said...

And B: I am not wise. I often forget that the tone of voice in my head does not translate to my writing. I should have written "LOL! This is way too easy. Keep 'em coming!" As that was what was going through my head. My apologies.

Scott said...

Ok. My wounds are salved.