Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

If That's How They Want to Spend Their Money...

Years ago, the agency behind Wisconsin Tourism placed a billboard across the street from the Minnesota Tourism Office. The board playfully played off Minnesota's claim to being the Land of 10,000 lakes with the following message:

Come to the Land of 15,000 Lakes...and ours have fish.

It still cracks me up.

That kind of playfulness isn't going to happen this year in Cleveland, where the airport has just rejected a $50,000 advertising contract with the Dallas CVB. You see, Dallas was the runner-up in the competition to host the Republican National Convention...and they'd like to remind delegates arriving to the convention that they were (in their minds) a better choice.

The airport didn't see the humor there...and turned down the ad buy.

Destination Cleveland CEO David Gilbert had a different take: "If that's how they choose to spend their money, that's fine,"

Indeed.

Hello from the Other Side

In Destination Marketing, there has been an unwritten rule that all marketing should be restricted to outside a 70-mile radius of a destination. The rationale: consumers within 70 miles won't stay the night. Thus, they are somehow unworthy of our attention.

What a load of crap.

Terry Mattson and his crew at Visit St. Paul clearly agree...and have just produced a sensational video directed at their "twin city" just 7 miles away.

It's their version of Adele's "Hello."

Watch it now before her lawyers tell them to pull it down.

Through a Lens Whitely

As Ellen McGirt said in this morning's edition of Race Ahead, "Ijeoma Oluo is a force of writing nature." And, her scathing review of the new Matthew McConaughy epic is as brilliant as it is blunt.

A movie (true as it is) about a white man...made for white audiences.

Sarah McLachlan

She's the only recording artist I can think of that has scored a Top 10 hit with a song in which the word "fucked" was never edited out for radio airplay. I guess that's because a) she has the voice of an angel and/or b) the use of the word can't be disputed.

On this Music Friday, we're going with a live version of one of Sarah McLachlan's biggest...and one with a quirky backstory. She was actually sued over the lyrics by an obsessed fan who said she had used his love letters as the basis for the song. He killed himself before the case came to trial...so, we'll never know.

Either way, "Possession" is one of her best...and as one of the commenters to the video says, the note she hits at 4:05 is pretty awesome.

She's in Toronto tonight, Ottawa tomorrow and Vancouver on Monday and in America the rest of the summer. Go. 

This is Why Research is Key

I'm a marketer. I possess a sixth sense for what will cause a target consumer to sit up and take notice. I've won awards; I've advised countless clients.

But, while I (and we all) have a gut sense of what works...none of it is real without research.

Case in point: HBO has just cancelled the second season of Vinyl, the absolutely sensational series about the backroom world of the music business in the late '70s. The casting was superb; the likeness cameos of Bowie, Sly and others was inspired. And, because I lived on the periphery of that world...it absolutely (well, maybe not the murder story line) resonated with that period of rock history (and my life).

Except, besides Murf, Kenny, Brien, Steve, Sonny, Tom, S.J. and the rest of my compatriots during that era, it obviously didn't move the needle for the rest of you.

Bottom line: who I am would have green lighted five seasons of Vinyl. And My Own Worst Enemy. And Revolution.

Research, baby. It's what every marketer needs to save themselves and their clients from their own unique world view.

Air Law 21

As Don Henley famously said, "How can love survive in such a graceless age?"

Graceless age, indeed. Anyone who has spent time in any American airport can attest to such a state. For, whatever reason, people turn into self-absorbed pigs in our nation's airports.

Run through all the previous Air Laws for all the nasty ways narcissists make our time in airports so distasteful.

Air Law 21 is in response to the image above from ORD a week ago. Seats that are clearly designated for handicapped passengers (the red ones), occupied by four people who are not. A couple of seniors, clearly challenged in mobility, were looking for a spot to sit. None of these people moved.

The impossibly designed American Airlines staging area there results in able-bodied passengers being forced to sit in handicapped seats. But...you don't move when someone in their 80s shuffles forward?

The woman hiding her face, in the image above, absolutely refused to move because her phone conversation was far too important to be interrupted. The couple next to her was finally seated because a gate agent insisted that other people vacate their seats (good on her). Those against the wall were, despite sitting in red handicapped seats, also unwilling to move.

Damn, I hate people like that. So...from this point forward, anyone seeing this kind of ignorance is encouraged to call these clueless people out, embarrass them before their fellow passengers and smack them with the canes used by those deserving of those seats.

If Air Law Marshals are in the area, they are hereby authorized to grease those canes with lube and guide them up these assholes' self-absorbed butts. 

Air Law.

When Travel and Politics Collide

Boycotts suck when they happen to us...but they are an effective way of sending a clear message.

The owners of a UK Travel Site abhor the direction that the American Republican party is moving with its new standard bearer, Donald Trump. But, releasing a statement to that effect would cause nary a ripple on this side of the pond.

Removing all Trump hotels and resorts from their website will...and EarnAway hopes it starts a movement among other online travel agencies to follow suit.

In making the announcement, EarnAway's Robert Berrisford said,"we feel it's ethically and morally wrong for us to effectively help fund and contribute to a political campaign that we have such strong opposition to."

It will be interesting to see whether others will place ethics over profit.

The Father and The Queen

There aren't a lot of covers of Beatles songs that can stand the test of time. A handful of attempts from the soundtrack to the truly horrible movie adaptation of Sgt. Peppers notwithstanding, a YouTube search of  "Long and Winding Road" reveals some cringeworthy attempts from Cher, Olivia Newton-John, Donny Osmond and others.

But that same search will reward you with two sensational gems. We don't often do Beatles on Music Friday...but, when we do, it's with the Father and Queen of Soul, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin.

Enjoy.

The $2 Smile

Terri often chides me for using $2 bills for tips during my travels, saying that some housekeepers or valets might not recognize them as legal tender (and, more importantly, that I could look like an ass for giving a worthless piece of paper as a tip). That certainly could be the case in suburban Houston, where a school worker recently called police when a student used a Jefferson to pay for lunch.

Luckily, most hospitality works are smarter than that...as I recently made a hotel housekeeper smile (click image to enlarge).

Holy Hair

So, the Memorial Day Weekend was all about the music. J.D. Souther on Saturday night. Wheelhouse and the return of Bascom Hill as we extended the weekend til Tuesday.

And Kip Winger on Sunday at the World's biggest Brat Fest.

Don't laugh. The self-described Peter Pan of 80's Rock turned in a stellar performance of where he's been and where he's going. And, doing it all acoustic delivered a nuance to the classic hits and the new material that was pretty freaking cool.

On this Music Friday, however, we dip back to the glory days of Winger. A video that, when I shared it with my youngest, she blurted out, "Holy Hair."

But...you can't deny it. They rocked.