Originally posted by Kevin McDermott in the St. Louis Post-DispatchMight the "Land of Lincoln" soon become the "Land of Lipton"?
Or "The Prairie State" become "The Pepsi State"?
Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration is considering selling, to a yet-unchosen beverage company, the rights to Illinois' name. No other state has ever done it.
The concept of designating an "official state beverage" could bring in millions of dollars to Illinois' cash-strapped state budget, as soft-drink companies compete - and pay - for the right to hawk their soda, juice or other beverage under Illinois' state banner.
Yikes...
You know, if John Kerry weren't so darn electable, the Democrats would be panicking right now. Oh wait, he isn't and they are. - James Taranto
Originally posted by GrimisJust when you think you have seen everything...
Originally posted by Kevin McDermott in the St. Louis Post-DispatchMight the "Land of Lincoln" soon become the "Land of Lipton"?
Or "The Prairie State" become "The Pepsi State"?
Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration is considering selling, to a yet-unchosen beverage company, the rights to Illinois' name. No other state has ever done it.
The concept of designating an "official state beverage" could bring in millions of dollars to Illinois' cash-strapped state budget, as soft-drink companies compete - and pay - for the right to hawk their soda, juice or other beverage under Illinois' state banner.
Yikes...
Why of all people are you saying this is bad or worrisome? Let's see what we have here: 1. A state government finding a way to raise money for demanded services without increasing an already onerous tax burden. 2. Providing a major American company with an opportunity to increase it's market share, providing more jobs and helping the bottom line for the millions of Pepsi (for example) stockholders. 3. Helping to illustrate the need for private industry to be intimately involved in the governmental processes if government is to promote policies that encourage business growth. 4. Removing foolish inefficient taboos on the free growth of business. As a Chicagoan I was extremely annoyed that millions of dollars that could have been saved by selling the naming rights to the renovated Solider Field were foregone in order to avoid the hurt feelings of a few veterans who will never go there and don't even live in Chicago. Instead every person who travels here will pay more in hotel taxes, making it harder to compete in the convention marketplace. We are a capitalist nation, so why are people so ashamed of that fact?
Or are you just annoyed because it was a Democrat who thought of it first? ;)
(edited by spf2119 on 13.9.04 1201) HELP IS ON THE WAY! "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." - George W. Bush 8/5/04
They'd never get away with this in Philly...too many "YOU SOLD OUT!" chants from disenfranchised ECW marks.
And I thought "BankOne presents the Chicago Bears" was bad. Only you wacky FIBs. :-)
Star wipe, and...we're out. Thrillin' ain't easy.
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Originally posted by GrimisJust when you think you have seen everything...
Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration is considering selling, to a yet-unchosen beverage company, the rights to Illinois' name. No other state has ever done it.
Yikes...
Grimis, far be it from me to disagree, but this is capitalism at its essense. Somebody makes an offer and somebody choses if it's their price.
Tacky? Yes, but so are corporate names for state-owned sports stadia.
Greedy? Yes, but so are state lotteries.
Innovative? Not really, because naming rights for government entities are common (see the state and municipal-owned sports stadiums note above, as well as parks, event centers at fairgrounds and the like, or for example, Flashline.com's naming rights to the mars artic research center).
Gonna happen? Gosh, I hope not, but if it does, no biggie, I think. I'm hoping Indiana, my home states, goes with "lifted up like Cialis" since we're the home of Eli Lilly.
(edited by AWArulz on 13.9.04 1330) Now, is it ok for me yell THEATRE! in a crowded fire?
I agree that this is capitalism at its essence, as AWA put it, but there are some things that should be sacrosanct.
While this is more attractve as a solution than a tax increase, it also could give the appearance of impropriety too. It causes more problems than it solves.
The more prudent tact here were be for Blagojevich to balance the budget by cutting government spending, but as spf so helpfully pointed out, we are talking about a Democrat :)
You know, if John Kerry weren't so darn electable, the Democrats would be panicking right now. Oh wait, he isn't and they are. - James Taranto
"Land of Lincoln" is one of the finest state nicknames out there. (Mottos?) Capitalism is terrific, but this is the public sector. And, moreover, it's Lincoln. Abe friggin' Lincoln. What's next? NASCAR style ad patches painted onto the jacket of the Lincoln monument? Pfizer presents the Washington Monument, which will now be painted blue? Like the strange bald lady says, Stop the madness.
Originally posted by PalpatineW Pfizer presents the Washington Monument, which will now be painted blue?
Unless Florida closes the sponsorship deal first.
Although in the same vein it's a shame a certain computer company from the 1980s isn't still alive to bid for sponsorship rights on either Florida OR the Washington Monument.
Maybe they could make some extra money and maintain the same slogan by simply selling the naming rights to the car company. That way everyone would be happy.
Although in the same vein it's a shame a certain computer company from the 1980s isn't still alive to bid for sponsorship rights on either Florida OR the Washington Monument.
I think they're the sponsor of Rene Dupree, per DEAN (and a gushing CRZ).
Originally posted by Palpadinew Absolutely ridiculous.
"Land of Lincoln" is one of the finest state nicknames out there. (Mottos?) Capitalism is terrific, but this is the public sector. And, moreover, it's Lincoln. Abe friggin' Lincoln. What's next? NASCAR style ad patches painted onto the jacket of the Lincoln monument? Pfizer presents the Washington Monument, which will now be painted blue? Like the strange bald lady says, Stop the madness.
I think it would so rock to have the governor come up for the "state of the state" address.
Ladies and Gentlemen, state assembly men and women, mayors, city managers and fellow members of the Land of Lipidor.
Before I talk about our new initiatives, I'd like to say that the Land of lipitor or, as we used to call it, Illinois is doing just fine. Our revenues are up. Since Barak Obama was able to have the keynote address at the DNC this year, both his shoulder patch and front pocket patch received maximum exposure on all the national networks, which pleased our sponsor so much that they gave us a 1 billion dollar bonus onto our agreement. Our secondary sponsors, including Catapiller and Empire Carpets also did well, especially at the RNC when all the Land of Lipitor delegation has toupee's made from Empire Carpet and Cat firesuits on, all, of course with the obligatory Lipator major sponsor patches.
It's rumored that the 9/11 commission may rehold some of their sessions and former Governor Big Jim Thompsor will be in the state uniform, and he's got a lot of advertising space to fill.
So, I think we can be assured that our state budget is in good shape this year. Hoepfully, we can compete with Boeing (the former Washington state) for the new contracts for the Fed Ex airplanes. To that end, we are adding them to our uniforms for one year as a minor sponsor, so please have your uniforms updated as soon as possible..
Blah, blah blah
(edited by AWArulz on 13.9.04 1635) Now, is it ok for me yell THEATRE! in a crowded fire?
LOL at AWA. But hey, in the end the final triumph of capitalism will be rendering artificially created barriers like states and countries to be archaic and unnecessary. Only when everyone is united in a common free-flowing market can we truly hope for the peak efficiency of business and the most robust wealth creation. As long as business is hampered by ideas like "you can't sell here because you're not Japanese" or anything like that we are never going to be truly able to acheive full potential.
HELP IS ON THE WAY! "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." - George W. Bush 8/5/04
Originally posted by PalpatineWAbsolutely ridiculous.
"Land of Lincoln" is one of the finest state nicknames out there. (Mottos?) Capitalism is terrific, but this is the public sector. And, moreover, it's Lincoln. Abe friggin' Lincoln. What's next? NASCAR style ad patches painted onto the jacket of the Lincoln monument? Pfizer presents the Washington Monument, which will now be painted blue? Like the strange bald lady says, Stop the madness.
Just so that we are clear, we are talking about adding an "official state beverage", not changing the state motto. That was a joke. And really, if it wasn't for the appearance of impropriety that Grimis mentioned, I wouldn't have much of a problem with it. At least, I can't think of any other negatives (but that's a pretty big one).
The Bored are already here. Idle hands are the devil's workshop. And no... we won't kill dolphins. But koalas are fair game.
They just did this in New York City (Snapple is now the official beverage). Here's what happened - New York City got some money, and they took the Coke machine off my floor (I work for the City) and put in a Snapple machine. I also think Snapple can advertise itself as the "Official beverage of New York City."
It was Snapple and not a soda mostly because it started as the official beverage of NYC Public Schools, and putting Snapple in schools got less flack than soda would have.
Every few years a corporate sponsorship thing comes up and it's "oh, now they're going too far." There was a lot of bitching with the Snapple deal. Now, I doubt one person in 10 here could tell you Snapple is our "Official Beverage" (in fact, nowdays "Official Beverage of New York City probably plays better in Boise than Brooklyn). I remember when Candlestick became 3Com, and it was like the arrival of the Antichrist to some poeple. A year later, everyone forgot about it. If Soldier Field would have become Snapple Field, a year later everyone would have forgotten about it too.
Is it too far or not? I really have no idea. I'd rather get the money from the corporations by closing tax loopholes and not letting them incorporate in Bermuda of course, but it is a pretty good deal for the money.
Man's most valuable trait is a judicious sense of what not to believe. - Euripides
Originally posted by MoeGates I remember when Candlestick became 3Com, and it was like the arrival of the Antichrist to some poeple. A year later, everyone forgot about it.
Actually...people 'round these parts are still quite bitter about this.
Crazy for me to say it, but I am *so* on Grimis' and PalpatineW's side.
Hate to say it -- but Blago could have helped out the crunch with gambling, but that's mired in politics.
To me, I thought anyone would be better than Ryan, and for now, I'm wrong. Why?
*Education. He talked about keeping education a priority; so far, we've had a strike for the second year in a row for one school district up here. Do the right thing, and start pushing no-strike legislation against teachers.
*Health. We have an OB-GYN crisis here. Docs are either moving to WI or IN, or farther because there's no tort-reform law. Instead, the gov's pushing pill legislation because it puts him on the map. Why not be a true Dem hero and start getting docs back in the state? We're talking people that can't afford medical care, and we're not giving help here.
True -- this naming right thing is capitalism, but it smacks of stupidity. I'm still not becoming a Cheesehead, though. ;)
Health. We have an OB-GYN crisis here. Docs are either moving to WI or IN, or farther because there's no tort-reform law. Instead, the gov's pushing pill legislation because it puts him on the map. Why not be a true Dem hero and start getting docs back in the state? We're talking people that can't afford medical care, and we're not giving help here.
No true Democrat would support tort reform, not with all the personal injury lawyer money backing the campaign, plus these guys are leading many of the organizational and strategical functions of the campaign. I realize it's not on the Illinois state level, but if you look at the big money guys behind the scenes of Kerry-Edwards, you have a who's who of the richest personal injury lawyers in the country (not to mention Edwards himself).
Originally posted by DrDirtEveryone keeps saying government should be run like a business.
Then everyone is stupid.
Why must Governor Blago make such an effort to be as ridiculous as Governor Ryan?
I agree it's dumb but the public must decide what it wants. Presently we want x, y, and z from our government, however, no one wants to be taxed to pay for it. We need to make up our minds what we want and then agree to pay for it.
Originally posted by CorajudoNo true Democrat would support tort reform, not with all the personal injury lawyer money backing the campaign, plus these guys are leading many of the organizational and strategical functions of the campaign. I realize it's not on the Illinois state level, but if you look at the big money guys behind the scenes of Kerry-Edwards, you have a who's who of the richest personal injury lawyers in the country (not to mention Edwards himself).
Unfortunately, you are one hundred percent accurate in regards to the Democratic position. I don't think tort reform is the be-all end-all that some claim, but it is certainly a necessity in some areas of law. Of course, when the number 2 on the national ticket is a med-mal lawyer who made his money on junk science, we can pretty safely assume that tort reform has no shot of ever appearing in the democratic party's plans.
Tim
People who say they don't "play politics" merely play politics badly. -- David Drake
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