Fayetteville: still better than Topeka

[sigma7]

A marketing campaign to portray Fayetteville as America's most patriotic city suggests daily parades, tax breaks for flag-wavers and requiring all restaurants to serve apple pie.

Other concepts, pitched by the Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, could turn Cumberland County into a sort of Disney World of American pride.

-- Dress up actors as George Washington and other heroes to roam downtown.

-- Fill the skies with fireworks every Saturday night.

-- Paint the streets to look like the flag.

Sweet. Love. Of God.

Because there's nothing quite as uniquely American as mandating behavior, let alone dessert serving. Here's an idea: find some other way to market yourself than empty symbolism and banking on patriotism. If it's a manifestation of a spiritual change, that's fine, but this is cheap image whoring and a pathetic marketing scheme.

But maybe that's the new Americana.

Comments

[opheliasclone.livejournal.com]

Yes, because what we all need is to order apple pie at a Chinese food restaurant. Blech. :-P

[querldox.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think you could end up with some very interesting variants if, instead of mandating it, the local Chamber of Commerce or whatnot issued a challenge to all restaurants of all cuisines to try to make their version of X, such as apple pie. Then after a month or so, have a tasting/judging event, declare winners, etc. Offhand, I'd probably do Chinese apple pie in mu shu style where you roll up spiced apples and the like in a "crust"/"pancake".

Admittedly, this is basically the idea behind fusion cuisine, and the results can often be bad or pretentious. But when it does work, it can be really wonderful.

I'd like to volunteer to dress up as my namesake, Thomas Jefferson, if this goes through. Of course, given that I think Tom would be hitting around Mach 10 on the spin cycle at this, I'd make a point of 1) Telling people what's really important about America, as much in Tom's own words as I could manage for a modern audience and 2) Formenting a revolution against this. :- )

[jim-smith.livejournal.com]

Sweet. Love. Of God.

This will also be mandatory, yes...

[wenchamok.livejournal.com]

*headdesk*