"Come to Hartford, I Swear Its Fun!"

[Luca Brasi]

Who's the genius who dreamed up this as Hartford's new marketing slogan? Is it just me or does this sound like desperation more than anything? The agency who came up with this slogan (actually it was lifted from a quote in the Nerw York Times) should be fired. Its embarrassing.

[Recchia]

Wow, that is terrible. Wow. That slogan contains absolutely no wit or meaning or anything.

[blink55184]

Wow, that is terrible. Wow. That slogan contains absolutely no wit or meaning or anything.

Its on a huge billboard now as well off of 84 east just after coming into the city from west hartford.

pointless

[Jerry2]

That is terrible! Can somebody please fire that ad agency?

[SOCOM]

Wow. That is embarassing.

[drc72]

That is terrible! Can somebody please fire that ad agency?

I second that.

[Hartfordfan]

i thought "rising star" was cheesy. oh man "i swear it's fun?" What, people say hartford isn't fun?

[damus]

Who's the genius who dreamed up this as Hartford's new marketing slogan? Is it just me or does this sound like desperation more than anything? The agency who came up with this slogan (actually it was lifted from a quote in the Nerw York Times) should be fired. Its embarrassing.

Jesus... sounds like they're admitting that Hartford has a lot of work to do. They seem to think that conceding the fact that the city was rediculously boring in the past (which I'm not too sure of) will get people to take a second look at Hartford. It might, when they come back pointing and laughing with their cameras in hand.

Where did CT go wrong? There's evidence of a glorious past all over the state and the capitol with great architecture; the Capitol building, the Merrit Parkway, various state offices, Traveler's tower, the remnants of great downtowns and better preserved historical residential neighborhoods are all great examples. It's unbelievable that a state with a strong corporate and academic presence, rich history, and a supreme location right between New York and Boston, could do so poorly.

[Mike D]

I have to agree - this slogan sucks. Yes, it does sound like desperation.

[LItoCT]

"Hartford - Hey, At Least It's Not As Bad As Newark!"...I've heard this one a few times.

[Dan]

I saw this billboard a couple of weeks ago on the way back to RI. "CT - We're full of surprises." "Hartford, I swear its fun." What's next?

Jesus... sounds like they're admitting that Hartford has a lot of work to do.

It's unbelievable that a state with a strong corporate and academic presence, rich history, and a supreme location right between New York and Boston, could do so poorly.

I believe the CT economy relies heavily on casino-gaming for revenue, and Hartford businesses are small contributors. The crime numbers in Hartford, especially gang-related, make Providence look like the Magic Kingdom. That is something that needs to be addressed if the city wants to attract tourists and potential residents.

[HartfordTycoon]

I saw this billboard a couple of weeks ago on the way back to RI. "CT - We're full of surprises." "Hartford, I swear its fun." What's next?

I believe the CT economy relies heavily on casino-gaming for revenue, and Hartford businesses are small contributors. The crime numbers in Hartford, especially gang-related, make Providence look like the Magic Kingdom. That is something that needs to be addressed if the city wants to attract tourists and potential residents.

I'll have to find the data to dispute you later, but the Hartford businesses are very large contributors. We are talking about major fortune 500 Corporations with global presence like United Technologies, The Hartford, St. Paul Travelers, Aetna, ING, etc. just to name a few with either headquarters here or a major presence. The Casinos are new, the Hartford businesses are old, and what have traditionally made the economy of CT and Southern New England work. OK, I found some stuff before I go to work at my global fortune 500 insurer with a major Greater Hartford presence. I will still keep looking because you are very wrong, not that you should know better but I am here to educate. Also, our crime numbers are fairly comparable to PVD, if you ask me, and we do not have organized gangs in Hartford, It's neighborhood vs. neighborhood the same way it is in PVD. But take a look, Hartford businesses are in no way small contributors, they make the business climate in this state, plain and simple. CT and Hartford would be just fine without the Casinos, trust me. They are an added bonus to the richest state's pockets and really have only boosted our tourism industry.

Hartford Ranks #2 in a Nationwide Economic Activity Report

Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez announced that a recently released report prepared for the United States Conference of Mayors ranks Hartford as the #2 metropolitan area in the nation based on per capita economic activity, second only to metropolitan San Francisco, CA. According to the study, Hartford is ranked 32nd of 318 metropolitan areas in total economic production and generates more economic activity than sixteen U.S. states. The report underscores U.S. metropolitan areas as drivers of the nation's economy and affirms Hartford's national benchmark levels of productive capability per resident.

continue reading

[Dan]

I believe the CT economy relies heavily on casino-gaming for revenue, and Hartford businesses are small contributors.

OK, I found some stuff before I go to work at my global fortune 500 insurer with a major Greater Hartford presence. I will still keep looking because you are very wrong, not that you should know better

I never said I was right... I know how much money the casinos are making and I have been to Hartford many times. I'm not an economist, I run a hotel.

Read my post; something I believed to be true was inaccurate and that's it. Interesting rebuttal, however.

I'm not gunning for Hartford, I swear!

[Luca Brasi]

Where did CT go wrong? There's evidence of a glorious past all over the state and the capitol with great architecture; the Capitol building, the Merrit Parkway, various state offices, Traveler's tower, the remnants of great downtowns and better preserved historical residential neighborhoods are all great examples. It's unbelievable that a state with a strong corporate and academic presence, rich history, and a supreme location right between New York and Boston, could do so poorly.

I don't think Connecticut has gone wrong anywhere. Connecticut has a LOT going for it. As for Hartford, for too long, no one was steering the boat. Everthing was done by city council which means nothing got done. No accountability, no action, no ideas. Anything that happened in Hartford over the last 40 years happened in spite of itself and its political structure.

[redbaron]

It's definitely not a great slogan, I think the purpose is to try to get young people into the city "yeah Hartford is fun". Which as friends of mine from Boston who were visiting last weekend can atest to. They couldn't understand why people were down on the city, they had just as much fun in Hartford as they would have in Boston... I don't think it's the city so much, maybe just a majority of people that live around it... Most don't realize what they have...

[HartfordTycoon]

It's definitely not a great slogan, I think the purpose is to try to get young people into the city "yeah Hartford is fun". Which as friends of mine from Boston who were visiting last weekend can atest to. They couldn't understand why people were down on the city, they had just as much fun in Hartford as they would have in Boston... I don't think it's the city so much, maybe just a majority of people that live around it... Most don't realize what they have...

Exactly, and if more realized what we actually had, than we would actually have even more. If that makes any sense.

[Cotuit]

Seriously, how many times to I have to scold people for this Hartford vs. Providence bullsh!t?

[HartfordTycoon]

I really do not think it was getting out of hand. If we cannot discuss the attributes of our city in comparison to those of another then what is the point having many of these discussions?

[Cotuit]

I moved some posts back. I do not get paid to moderate this site, and I easily tire of being placed in the role of babysitter. I don't appreciate it when a few try to ruin things for the many. The many being the people who can have adult discussions without lashing out childishly.

And some of those children do exist in the Providence forum, I tire of being accused of favoritism too.

[Garris]

i thought "rising star" was cheesy. oh man "i swear it's fun?" What, people say hartford isn't fun?

Until today, I thought the worst slogan for a town I had heard was one small town from Minnesota whose slogan was"

"Getting better all the time!"

Getting better than what? How bad were things? When do things move from better to good?

But "I swear it's fun" easily takes the cake... Wow, you'd think this were marketing 101... Was it not fun before? What makes it fun now? Whose word am I taking on this? What's fun... Ouch...

From my 4 years in New Haven (and from growing up in the Danbury, CT metro) I really do believe that CT has an image problem. Not just in how to project themselves to others, but in defining itself. I mean, frankly, the state's one big Pottery Barn from border to boarder, punctuated by some urban pockets (which the largely suburban populace would prefer to ignore), a great historic shoreline that many are bitter they can't afford to live on, and scattered historic downtowns that have become neutralized by surrounding sprawl. A large mass of the state's population lives in the NYC metro and, save for their CT addresses, have their life and identity revolve around NY.

There's no defining historical figure, no well known lovable personality quirks (which Rhode Island, by contrast, has a million of), no all conquering professional sports team (although UConn has helped a bunch here, but college sports are ignored by most of the Northeast... This has more currency in Iowa than NJ). There's no CT accent, no nationally recognized vacation destination, no "must go to" beaches. There's no famous mansion rows to gawk at... Really, all CT is now regionally known for is its Casinos...

Growing up on the NY side of the NY/CT border, we only went to CT for two reasons:

- The Danbury Mall (no sales tax)

- The Hartford Whalers (and they're long gone)

More recently:

- I attended Yale

- I've been to the casinos...

And that's it. I recently spent a weekend with the woman I'm dating in Stonington, CT, but that's only because she had been to most of the closer similar communities in RI and MA.

I don't mean to rag on CT. I saw myself as virtually growing up there and love New Haven, the beauty of the coast and country, but honestly, it must be tough to craft a self and tourism image for the state!

- Garris

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

Back To The Future - does anybody remeber that "The Beat of Hartford" campaign from the 70's/80's? Bring that back, modernized! UrbanPlanet should give a prize to anyone who can scrape up an audio file:

The Beat, of Hartford

You Can Feel It All Around

The Streets of Hartford

Its a Happy, la, la, la (don't know the rest of the words)

[Cotuit]

Sounds like the "Spirit of Massachusetts" campaign from around the same era (an echo of which is still seen on Mass. plates).

"The Spirit of Massachusetts is the Spirit of America

The spirit of the old and the new

The Spirit of Massachusetts is the Spirit of America

The spirit of the red, white, and blue"

Or some such cheesy crap.

[SOCOM]

I mean, frankly, the state's one big Pottery Barn from border to boarder...,

I had to laugh at this because it's so true. Everytime I tell someone outside the Northeast that I'm from Connecticut the first thing they always say is something along the lines of "oh, you must be rich and snobby".

The snobby part is of course true, but that's besides the point.

[GregV]

It is a terrible slogan to promote our great city, but that said I think the creators meant to bring some sort of hipness to the Hartford image, which is a step in the right direction. Looking back, that "Beat of Hartford" campaign was uber-cheesy, and the "Rising Star" is only a slight improvement.

It could be worse. The new Israeli tourist slogan "Israel...who knew?"

I say we go modern for the next campaign, something sexy, like the pharse "Hartford is Hot" written in a clean hard font on a black/gray background. I could see it now on the left half of a billboard, on the right half fading into a scantilly-clad Paris Hilton sitting in the Crush bar with a cocktail, getting tons of attention buy eyes on the camera...

Now that's the Hartford I'd want to live in...

[Garris]

I could see it now on the left half of a billboard, on the right half fading into a scantilly-clad Paris Hilton...

Now that's the Hartford I'd want to live in...

- Garris

PS: Can someone take a picture of the current billboard and post it?