#TROYCRAZY & OTHER SLOGANS OF YEARS PAST (For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.) Marketing cities is a topic that interests me. So I’ve been working on a piece about the various slogans the City of Troy has used to promote itself over the years (and the counter slogans that cropped up in response). It seems a timely topic now that #TroyCrazy is picking up steam -- not only on Twitter but in the mainstream media. Chris Churchill TimesUnion and the Albany Business Review, for example, have both published articles on the new hashtag meme. Yesterday, another blogger (and extraordinary red head), Carolee D. Bennett at the Times Union, had this to say, in a piece titled: -- Is #downtownalbany jealous of crazy Troy, er #troycrazy? I ask because Troy has a great hashtag: #troycrazy. Despite being associated sometimes with shenanigans, #troycrazy is, frankly, a lot of fun. And it has great potential as a lively, engaging identity for the City of Troy (think “Keep Portland Weird,” the motto of #PDX, a city I adore). #Troycrazy is even going mainstream and gaining attention of the Albany Business Review, which asks here if it might be a slogan for rebuilding a city. In contrast, doesn’t #downtownalbany sound bland? While some “regular folks” like me and one or two media guys use it, it is mainly promoted by businesses. The Downtown Albany BID (@AlbanyBID) leads that charge. … What’s going on in Troy is wonderful – passionate individuals and businesses are making big investments and strong statements. And I agree with the Downtown Troy Business Improvement District that #troycrazy can be “a good kind of crazy.” blog.timesunion/caroleeonlark/is-downtownalbany-jealous-of-crazy-troy-er-troycrazy/18/ --- #TROYCRAZY/#CRAZY4TROY As far as I know, #TroyCrazy was first put into circulation by “social gadfly,” Twitter sniper Kevin McCashion, who defines it as: “The contradictory confluence of great events & catastrophic events happening at the same time.” https://twitter/kevinmccashion But once you give birth to a meme, it has a life of its own and the people come to use and define it as they will. And for every slogan, there’s an (equal?) and opposite slogan. In this case, something on Twitter calling itself “FakeKevinMcCashion” is trying to push #Crazy4Troy as a more “positive” response. Personally, I don’t see that one taking off because it has the inauthentic ring of a “Chamber of Commerce” slogan. It is, as Carolee said above of other efforts, bland. https://twitter/FakeMcCashion ENJOY TROY/DESTROY TROY On the flip side of that, however is Linda Passaretti’s now locally iconic “enjoy troy.” oval. People love this cheery little command: enjoy troy period. Well, all right! There’s no doubt, Linda nailed it when she made this understated-yet-inarguable command -- not exclamation! -- through her use of an oval, lowercase words in American typewriter font, and a period. But I have been told that “Enjoy Troy!” (Capital letters, exclamation point) previously appeared during the 1980s, as entry for a contest to coin the new city slogan. And almost immediately the response was “Destroy Troy.” Of course that was during the great “urban renewal” destruction of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Not surprisingly, today McCashion also uses the #DestroyTroy hashtag in a satirical “anti-demolition awareness” campaign that began with the hasty demo of 4,6,8 and 10 King Street. The wooden framed buildings at this gateway to the city apparently survived Troys Great Fire of 1862. Granted, the true point of McCashion’s satirical #DestroyTroy “campaign” doesn’t always register with the general public. (Also, worth noting: today, the city’s handling of the demolition of those historic structures is being investigated by the FBI. timesunion/local/article/Projects-draw-FBI-queries-5360386.php ) YOURS TROY/ UP YOURS TROY Another earlier marketing campaign for Troy used the slogan “Yours Troy.” The response? Up Yours Troy. FEEDBACK, OTHER SLOGANS, HISTORICAL MATERIALS I’m currently trying to track down the various posters and materials with these slogans on them throughout the years because I think it will make for an interesting piece on the history of how Troy has attempted to market itself as a city. If anyone has any additional info or copies of the old marketing campaigns, please let me know. And let’s spread “Troy to the World.”
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 16:38:43 +0000
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