| It's easy to laugh off "I Love New York" t-shirts as a | | | | special to them: perhaps an older person is |
| temporary trend that became a pop-culture fixture, | | | | remembering the first time they visited the city, or |
| but dismissing it as a cultural phenomenon is not a | | | | their years there as a student and a starving artist; |
| wise decision. The popularity of these simply-designed | | | | someone else might remember the hours of shopping |
| t-shirts, with their simple but timeless statement, is a | | | | on Fifth Avenue, or spending all day in the Barnes |
| useful lesson to anyone interested in marketing, | | | | & Noble at Union Square. Others could recall bad |
| design, or sociology in general. | | | | experiences that turned out all right: getting lost in a |
| "I Love New York" t-shirts date back to 1977, when | | | | tough neighborhood, then approached by a sinister |
| New York State hired a major advertising firm (Wells | | | | stranger -- who kindly directed them to the nearest |
| Rich Greene) and an independent designer (Milton | | | | subway stop. "I Love New York" t-shirts are about |
| Glaser) to help come up with a temporary tourism | | | | how what we can have in common is that we love |
| marketing campaign for New York State. In one of | | | | the city, even if we all disagree on what makes it so |
| the greatest marketing ironies of all time, the "I Love | | | | great. |
| New York" t-shirts and associated products were a | | | | A shirt like that, or a slogan like that, is pretty hard |
| hit -- but they were a hit forever associated with the | | | | to come by. If something is universally popular, some |
| city of New York, rather than the state, as intended. | | | | people will try to lay exclusive claim to it, and then |
| This points to the first important factor in analyzing "I | | | | liking the universal means supporting the specific. But, |
| Love New York" t-shirts. The point is not the | | | | like a few other New York-related designs, "I Love |
| information these shirts convey, but their ability to | | | | New York" t-shirts have escaped this fate. When we |
| remind people of what they're already thinking, and | | | | wear them, we're just saying we love the city -- |
| to catalyze action based on that. When someone | | | | nothing else. And that's how it should be. |
| sees another person wearing an "I Love New York" | | | | Will anyone duplicate the success of "I Love New |
| t-shirt, their reaction isn't "Oh! How persuasive! I | | | | York" t-shirts? I doubt it. One of the strongest |
| guess I should love New York, too!" It | | | | elements behind the success of the design was that |
| 's something entirely different: "I do love New York." | | | | so many people wanted it to succeed -- New |
| Most of us don't have any illusions about how other | | | | Yorkers are proud that theirs is a city with a |
| people think of the city. We all know that there are | | | | universally recognized logo, and business and stores in |
| at least eight million reasons to love the city, and | | | | the city are certainly glad to get the extra attention. |
| probably plenty more that aren't quite compelling | | | | Creating a successor is probably an insurmountable |
| enough. But when people wear "I Love New York" | | | | challenge. But the current slogan is doing just fine |
| t-shirts, they're thinking of whatever makes the city | | | | thus far. |