Thanks, Mike, for the pointer to the Pittsburgh Regional Branding Initiative. I have to say that I find the whole concept of "regional branding" kind of . . . scary.
In all seriousness, the last thing that Pittsburgh is or wants to be is inauthentic. And here and elsewhere, you can't "brand" a city the way you can "brand" a new car. If you could, then I'd recommend changing our name and getting a much hipper logo. We could be the Lexus of Rust Belt cities. We need a new color scheme. Black and gold? Everybody's black these days.
How about some celebrity endorsers? Michael Chabon has done a few good things since he lived here (he got a writing credit on Spiderman 2!) -- how about him? "I got my start in Pittsburgh," he could say, "and now I'm rich and famous and living in California." Maybe Mariss Jansons could record "Thanks for the memories" for us? What's Jennifer Beals up to these days -- besides flying to Chicago with Frasier?
And a slogan. We need a slogan. Earlier in the blog, I was trying to push the winner of a local slogan contest -- "Get Yo Pittsburgh On." That didn't take. How about (a la Roddy) "Free Beer"?
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