People Unclear on the Concept
In a bid to lure young college graduates, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has become a [Richard] Florida disciple. Last year, she launched a statewide “cool cities” program.
In doing so, she donned a pair of sunglasses and promised a future Detroit that’s “so cool, you have to wear shades.”
Isn’t it totally uncool to have to talk about how cool you are? When I am looking for a place to live, I am looking for someplace with a hot economy, not a cool one. I am glad that Michigan elected such a obviously compentent governor.
Man, that really is authentically cool. She must have surveyed millions of students in their very dorm rooms and asked them if it sounded cool. THis is also a double clever campaign because it will finally give all of the kids a reason to don their sunglasses, because they probably haven’t until now…or maybe the big sunglasses conglomerates have her in their back pocket. Something’s up here.
Let me get this straight, so “cool” I gotta wear shades?
I was unaware that “cool” things were bright…no, wait, bright things are cool…no, Sunglasses cause warmth?…what?!!
That just don’t make no sense!!
A better promise may have been, “The future is so bright, we gotta wear parkas.”
This a really a very subtle marketing message – one that takes the emphasis off the high crime, low job growth, and decaying inner city, and places it on the non quantifiable trait of coolness. Who cares if your neighborhood is a ghetto, or the schools are poor performing. Our city is “cool”, and if you can’t appreciate it because your stuck on “quality of life” issues than you sir, are just proving that you are “un-cool”. This is a policy maker embracing the idea of perception being better than reality. Instead of enacting real changes and improvements, we can just try to change how our crappy city is perceived! It’s really quite bold and innovative – yet also lazy and status quo. Yes, that sounds like a place I have been seeking to bring my college educated skills. On a side note, considering the near Canada-like climate, maybe a more accurate slogan would be “a future Detroit that’s so bone-chilling-frozen, you have to wear shades.”
You say “Near Canada-like climate” I’ll have you know that there are many areas in Canada that are far warmer than many areas in the States (i.e. Vancouver/Salt Lake, Cleveland, Detroit). I think that maybe you meant to say, “Near arctic climate”, Canada actually has many different climates. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hung up on this–in fact I’m quite cool with it, I just thought maybe you’d like to know.
Also, I have been in places that were so cool, I thought to myself, “man need to wear sunglasses right now.” Think of the popular songs, “I wear my sunglasses at night” by Corey Hart, and, “I gotta wear shades” have nothing to do with overwhelming amounts of natural light, but with an image that matches the idea and perception of being “cool”
Where Granholm errs is not necessarily in allowing perception to trump practical issues; but in quantifying coolness in this day of ironic culture. Its nerds like Weezer, Elvis Costello, and Tobey Maguire that are the popular images of coolness. Sure, it’s pretty great to have the feathered hair, the shiny football lettermans jacket, and the dark sunglasses, but being cool now is complicated.
She should have said, “So cool you’ll all have to wear trucker hats in an ironically cool way”.