Platform : ‘Together We’re the Best’--Our Best Shot?

On Wednesday, a business and government consortium called the New Los Angeles Marketing Partnership began a public relations blitz designed to lift the image of the city.

JIM BLAIR talked with artists, writers and business promoters about their reaction to the campaign built around the slogan, “Together We’re the Best. Los Angeles.” and a logo that could represent the letters “WE,” a pair of hands, or mountains, sea and sun.

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ROBBIE CONAL

Guerrilla artist, Los Angeles

I saw the [TV] spot. I thought it looked like a Dr. Pepper ad run in slow motion designed for a Readers’ Digest CD-Rom.

I really love Los Angeles, but you have to have two things to live in it--you have to have a car that works and a sense of humor that works overtime. Even the ad kind of says this is the city that without a doubt is the popular culture production capital of the universe.

I always thought that L.A. had more creative elbow room than any other spot on the planet--more room to stretch out and so much high-powered talent here that it’s embarrassing when, well, let’s say our civic leaders, flaunt their collective lack of imagination [like this] in efforts to make like Nike. [And] factoids [in the campaign] like “Los Angeles/Long Beach is the No. 1 port of entry in the country” are actually a kind of veritable ode to our recent vote on Proposition 187.

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SANDRA TSING LOH

Buzz magazine columnist and performer, Los Angeles.

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Do we really expect slogans to be interesting? Do you know of a good slogan? “I love New York” is snappy - I “heart” New York. But “Together we’re the best” has sort of an industrialized-nation-pulling-together quality to it. The commercial that came on talking about “more trade dollars pour through L.A.” or something. I just wonder who, exactly, this is aimed at. Is it a captain of industry that’s supposed to hear it?

It’s scary. [We need some] upbeat humor, with a little edge, but positive. Let’s not take ourselves so seriously.

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MADELEINE JANIS-APARICIO

Executive director of the Tourism Industry Development Council, Los Angeles

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We’re a a coalition of labor unions, community activists and small-business people, so it doesn’t ring as true to me as it could [with] a different approach to the marketing of the city.

I think it’s good to say that we’re the best; but I don’t know if we all agree on what “the best” means. “Best” to us means the real diversity, the real striving to make L.A. a better place in all of the neighborhoods and all of the communities--something very different than “the best” has traditionally meant to many businesses or some of the traditional elements in the tourism industry.

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NANCY HOFFMAN

Executive vice president, Mid Valley Chamber of Commerce, Van Nuys

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I heard the jingle “Together We’re The Best” on the radio and I thought it was about time that Los Angeles was being identified as a place to come and live, work, do business and visit. We see other communities and states promoting their areas and I think it’s great that we’re finally promoting Los Angeles.

It’s a start. I don’t know if a song is the right start or the wrong start; [but] any start’s good because we need action.

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ROY ADLER

Professor of marketing, Pepperdine University, Malibu.

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The reason why we’re spending millions of dollars on this is that we must address an issue without mentioning it. The slogan for Los Angeles--”Together we’re the best”--the key word is “together” and what it’s trying to say without mentioning it is, gee, the ethnic strife we’ve had is sort of over and now we’re together.

Picking a city’s slogan is a pretty thankless task. Seven million people have 7 million different preferences. Few people will pick the official one as their No. 1 choice.

You’re trying to come up with something “everyone will like” but there’s no chance of that.

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Your Best Shot?

Here, from Professor Roy Adler, comedian Paul Rodriguez and others are some ideas for a Los Angeles slogan.

L.A.--Life is an adventure!

L.A.--Nature’s playground!

L.A.--We’re still here!

L.A.--Go figure. (Paul Rodriguez)

L.A.--Ole!

Give us your own slogan and logo ideas. Send them to Voices at fax, mail or E-mail addresses at the top of this page. We’ll print the best of them.