truth in advertising
The City of Tampa is considering a new slogan for Ybor City, and I think Roberts Communications came up with a winner.
To combat Ybor’s reputation as a bawdy haven for criminals, Mayor Pam wants a marketing plan to promote Ybor’s restaurants, culture, and family-friendly atmosphere.
With recent developments in Ybor such as alternative live music venue Masquerade shutting down, threats of jail time for playing music, and the closing of other unwanted businesses (Joffrey’s, Pop City, Grandma’s Attic), they have come up with a slogan that perfectly matches Ybor’s desired reputation: Flavored to suit any taste
I think they nailed it. Flavored to suit any taste: Anytime you make anything more bland, it will appeal to the lowest common denominator. If you want everything to appeal to everybody, you water it down. The Mall appeals to everyone and offends no one. Ybor City is becoming the Mall. Now, if they could only get rid of those goth kids at the Castle - they look so evil. Ybor City: Flavored to suit any taste:
According to the Trib article, Mayor Pam Iorio and the Ybor City Community Redevelopment Agency (I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of this agency - maybe they mean Ybor City Development Corporation?) still need to approve the slogan.
Tags: city, marketing, music, tampa, tourism
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March 8th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
Hey here’s a new joke: What’s the difference between Ybor and the mall? Ybor has more bars. Oh my side!
Now here’s one about the Trib. Naw, that’s too easy.
March 8th, 2006 at 5:08 pm
My wife and I had our first date at the Ritz theater, this was before Masquerade bought it. My grandfather saw plays there when it was a theater also so we are sad to see it go dark but…
Somebody will lease it. The building cannot really be used for much else without extensive renovation and it cannot be torn down I believe because it is an historic building. Is there any word yet on what will happen with the space? The guy who owns the labor temple building that the Castle resides in and the old Tracks building used to be real close to the city council so he might be willing to take it on.
March 8th, 2006 at 5:37 pm
University Mall has Mr. Dunderbaks, so they’re not as far apart as we’d like.
March 8th, 2006 at 6:12 pm
CRA can be Community Redevelopment Agency, which in Tampa’s case is a “dependent” agency because its board of directors are the city council members. I gather the main purpose for having the CR Agency is because it is a requirement for obtaining community/economic development block grants from the federal government. CRA can also mean Community Redevelopment Area as in the Ybor City Development Corp’s community meeting on infrastructure needs for Ybor’s CRA 1 and 2 areas. (Which is redundant because the A already stands for areas.) To further confuse matters the Dev. Corp. and both types of CRA are often involved in the same issue. It becomes a real “Who’s on first?” situation.
March 8th, 2006 at 8:10 pm
The mall offends me.
March 8th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
Ask gay people what they think about Ybor nowadays. Or, more to the point, ask someone gay over 35. Ybor used to be strictly gay. Back in the day, if you said you were going to Ybor, you were either queer, going there to watch the drag queens at El Goya or lost. The only straight people who went anywhere near 7th were the curious, the muggers (who made careers out of run-by necklace rip-offs) and the UT twinks who didn’t know any better.
YOU guys are riled up, think about how WE feel. Ybor got co-opted and now it’s heading right back to where it was. I feel like a Cherokee with a tear in my eye: give us back our land, lol.
March 9th, 2006 at 8:33 am
hmmmm… Cherokee? As in Cherokee Club?
March 9th, 2006 at 9:56 am
Lol, Tommy. That hi-priced ho-stop has changed hands more than any new lesbian in town. I hear now (from the junior crowd) that it’s called Club Flirt and charges $10.00 to park, $10.00 to get in and $89.65 for a beer.
March 9th, 2006 at 10:32 am
Just have to laugh, as if a slogan is going to make a big difference. They might try something like “Vacant to suit any taste.” since so many pieces of real estate are vacant.
March 11th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
I work in Ybor during the day. The building next door is some sort of underground theater, they put boards over the windows and only show plays late at night. I’m vaguely curious, but not that brave.
I guess this new slogan is why everyone grabs a Starbuck Blande drink-of-the day, when some of the best cuban espresso in town is only four blocks away at El Molino.
Ybor is only edgy on the edges. The condos are going up like crazy, though. One imagines it as the next Channelside before too long.