Today the I NY logo is everywhere: recognizable and re-mixed. It so naturally represents its constituency—in both design and attitude—that one could assume the slogan had been carved into a tree ten minutes after the Dutch exchanged those beads. But the world's most well-known geo-logo, despite its seemingly punk, grass-roots credentials, is really the very contrived product of one Milton Glaser, who at the time was a designer for the Wells Rich Greene agency. Furthermore, when the logo was chosen in 1977, the idea of ing New York (City especially) was a bit ironic. A bankrupt metropolis abandoned to "drop dead," the idea of either tourists or residents loving New York was as much wishful thinking as truth.

I NY's reach and influence today is apparent as much in the number of academic articles written about it as in the number of knock-offs and imitators it has inspired. For instance, Chicago-based t-shirter Threadless goes all Dallas on the theme; and, proving the degree to which the logo has infiltrated out lives, it doesn't even need to make sense anymore to be acceptable.

The debate surrounding I NY is not about its effectiveness; it is about what I NY actually stands for—New York or New York City. And it cannot be "bi-," no matter how badly the Empire State Development Corporation wants it to be nor how appropriate that seems when speaking of New York City.

This RFP calls for a "restoration" campaign—but a "revisionist" campaign would be more accurate. As much as the state of New York wants to take ownership of—and leverage—the I NY brand, it needs to realize that despite the logo legally belonging to the state, the hearts and minds of consumers and residents see it as a calling card for the city. Bully to whoever had the bright idea of naming the state after the city, huh? (Too bad for Albany it wasn't the other way around.) Taking things into perspective, New York is not the first state-city relationship that defies a unifying brand. Would anyone suggest that a single brand for California could equally represent the state, San Francisco, and San Diego—to say nothing of Yuba City and Eureka? If Las Vegas were called Nevada City, would anyone be more likely to identify Sin City with the rest of the state? What happens in Nevada outside Vegas may stay in Nevada, but it's probably because few care to know what happened there to begin with.

Even the Wikipedia entry on I NY frames this truth. While the intermittently respected online chronicler of knowledge states that the I NY brand "is now used to promote tourism throughout the State of New York" it also states (in the same paragraph, no less) that the brand "is a famous pop-style icon that unabashedly promotes the metropolitan pride of New York City."

The ironic thing is that Glaser himself is responsible not only for creating the originally-in-dispute I NY brand but also for the final removal of any remaining claim the state could have on it. Following the events of one September 11, 2001, Glaser modified the original logo to read I NY MORE THAN EVER, thusly eradicating any leftover connection the logo may have had to the state. The twist of the knife was a small black portion added to the red meant to symbolize the World Trade Center disaster site.

I NY(C)?
The Empire State Development Corporation is apparently as equally confused about the brand it means to promote; in one paragraph it aims to "restore the I LOVE NEW YORK campaign to primacy among state tourism campaigns" while in another it proclaims "Even in the dark days of New York's history—the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001—the I LOVE NEW YORK campaign served as a rallying cry and symbol of pride. On that day and those that followed, the world valued New York more than ever. Evidence of that is now apparent as New York City celebrated a remarkable 44 million visitors in 2006."

Not globally, not nationally, not in Times Square, not in Flatbush are there many who might connect Buffalo or Syracuse with 9/11.

On a side note, there is a potentially larger concern than which bit of geography I NY represents: What does New York (that is, the city) now mean?

New York is now a place where a Chipotle fast-food restaurant occupies a space in a twin-level shopping mall almost directly across the street from a former residence of Steal This Book author Abbie Hoffman. Chipotle fights for business with a Subway. Three Starbucks stores are within a few hundred yards.

Nobody is suggesting that NYPD officers with taped-over badge numbers should start roughing up the Maclaren-stroller-pushers in Tompkins Square Park (as was done with the heroin-pushers a couple decades earlier); but it may be in the city's interest to maintain some level of genuine, can't-find-it-nowhere-else grit so as to avoid the rather embarrassing (yet, very real) possibility of soon competing with the Las Vegas amusement park of the same name: I NY-LV.

Close Box

Our March 26 profile on the "I NY" campaign, written by Abram Sauer, stirred the following response from David Ganz, director of Eastwest Marketing Group: While Abram is certainly entitled to his point of view, his perspective is myopic and inaccurate. Moreover, it's a little disheartening to have brandchannel showcase it. I'm a staunch believer that a brand is in the hearts and minds of its customers. These "hearts" (excuse the pun) reside globally not just between the Battery and 96th Street. I have a sneaking suspicion the author lives on Manhattan Island and when leaving his friend's apartment in Brooklyn, he declares he's going back to the "city." Well...you never left it. As way of background, the "I New York" campaign was conceived in 1977 by Governor Hugh Carey's administration. The agency at the time was Wells Rich Greene, led by Charlie Moss. There was no "logo" the first few years, just the words in Helvetica. Yes, Governor Carey was reacting somewhat to President Ford's "Drop Dead" headline. NYC's financial woes had a potential devastating effect on the metropolitan area and the entire State. The first spots focused on the outdoors, not NYC (unless there is trout-fishing and mountains that I'm not aware of). Later that year the campaign showcased Broadway. Unfortunately for NYC (and fortunately for the world), "Broadway" is a global brand. NYC's exclusivity no longer exists. It was not until late 1978 or early 1979 the "logo" developed by Milton Glaser was introduced. Over the years, it became a Master Brand for New York State and all its products: skiing, fall foliage, getaway outdoor vacations, and New York City. On media alone there has been an excess of US$ 300 million spent to promote the products of (I NY). And of all the media dollars spent behind the products, no more than 35 percent has focused on NYC. The association of (I NY) with NYC is strong outside the US, particularly in Japan, the UK, and France. But within the northeast (the largest source of business), "I NY" upstate/Long Island association is powerful not at the expense of NYC but as a compliment. The "I NY" campaign thrived and had a solid strategic foundation until the George Pataki administration. [Pataki was governor of New York from 1995 to 2006.] The administration viewed it as a political vehicle to elevate the governor and his wife. Even the campaign after 9/11 was politically motivated. The commercial featured both him and [then New York City Mayor Rudolph] Giuliani. He was politically astute enough to realize he needed the mayor to have any credibility through association. Perhaps people in Times Square or Flatbush don't connect Buffalo or Syracuse with 9/11, but perhaps people upstate (beyond Westchester) do. As Chevrolet offers the Corvette and the Suburban, "I NY" offers the Adirondacks and Times Square. Different experiences, but possessing the DNA. Perhaps if Mayor Bloomberg's head of marketing, George Fertitta, understood the power of "I NY" he would capitalize on it, not ignore it in his current efforts. Abram had this reply: While I agree with most of what David addresses, my point is that there is a chasm between what I NY is supposed to represent and what it actually represents in the hearts and minds of almost all non-New Yorkers and probably a good number of city and state residents as well. Sometimes what a brand wants to be and what it is are not the same, and no amount of budget percentigizing will change that. But for a wholly unscientific and largely anecdotal test of this, I challenge anyone to print out the I NY logo and ask people what they think is stands for. In my own tries at this I never once got New York State. And for the record, I live in Brooklyn. Thanks, Dave, for your letter! ~ Anthony

Abram Sauer lives in (and loves) New York City.