While last night's The Apprentice featured the goon patrol rebranding Margate, Manchester's own Suralan - Andy Spinoza - has had a go at sprucing up Blackpool, with hilarious consequences. It's a clever video, but chic French cafe society is NOT BLACKPOOL.
The press coverage says it is about "attracting French visitors to Blackpool. Not it isn't. That would be absurd. It is about attracting attention to a new campaign for Blackpool.
The danger is, however, that the images shown are so far away from the reality of what Blackpool is, it doesn't matter how good the video is, or how much media coverage there is of attempts to change perceptions of Blackpool, it runs the risk of actually belittling Blackpool.
Especially when the story immediately next to it on the Gazette website is this. That's more like it.
1 comment:
Thanks for your comments, Michael. It has created a real stir, as can be seen in the debates raging across Twitter and the comment boards under the film on You Tube. The film's purpose is NOT to pretend that Blackpool is like Paris. The regeneration of Blackpool is a long haul, and this is an early shot in a long campaign. It is to get people thinking about the resort in a new light using...humour. The film has a lightness of touch and a self-deprecation which some pick up quickly; others are taking the thing Very Seriously Indeed. The best treatment's was News at Ten, which changed And Finally to Et Finalement. They recognised it was about humour and chutzpah, a word with which Surlan will be familiar. Keep up the good blog.
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