A couple of years ago, the City of Atlanta decided to launch an advertising campaign. Coined Brand Atlanta, its goal was to promote tourism, promote local pride, and establish an identity for the city. The rationale for starting the promotional campaign was that when people think of Las Vegas they think “gambling,” and when people think of New Orleans they think “Katrina”, er “Mardi Gras”, but nothing comes to mind when people think of Atlanta.
Now don’t get me wrong. I love Atlanta and enjoy living here, but there isn’t anything about the city that gives it an identity. Sure we’ve got the world’s busiest airport and the headquarters of Coca-Cola, but who really cares about that? Now that’s not to say that there’s nothing to see in Atlanta, but nobody is going to visit Atlanta so that they can snap some pictures of the airport.
Anyway, the Brand Atlanta campaign has come up with a few gimmicks to promote the city. These include TV and radio commercials, billboard ads, and a contrived and very lame theme song. I encountered one of these promos while at the Atlanta airport. It was large banner hanging from the ceiling at the train station. I’m trying to figure out what message Atlanta is trying to send. That all men in Atlanta wear skirts?
