Too Many Lincolns
Posted at 5:24 AM on February 12, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(31 Comments)
Here's a memo from marketing guru Spin Williams, who is always at the meeting that never ends:
People,
I'm really jazzed about where our country is going right now.
And I don't mean where it appears to be going, which is into the dumper, but where it is really going, which, I think, is back to global numero uno, nation-wise.
But there's one big adjustment that should be made.
It's branding. We have got to get our national branding under control.
Freedom and liberty, for example. I love 'em both, but in focus groups, they test as being the same. We need to really develop just one, so our external and internal audiences don't get confused over who we are!
And what about Lincoln? It's his birthday. Two hundred today.
I'm a huge Lincoln fan, but his brand is all messed up!
Is he Honest Abe, Father Abraham, or the Great Emancipator?
Is he a good hearted country bumpkin or the greatest man who ever lived?
A sad sufferer or 1860's own King of Comedy?
And how about his graphic identity?
We seem to all be on the same page with the hangdog, homely look, but is he bearded or clean-shaven? Pants too short or hat too tall?
I'm seeing all kinds of Lincolns out there. Too many.
And every day it gets worse. There are historians flooding the market with books trying to tell us how complicated Lincoln was. Complicated? Please!
Americans like simplicity!
Good thing they don't read much or they'd be totally confused!
Here's my pitch. Let's have one Lincoln. I don't care which one, but The Great Emancipator is my favorite. And I can't see him without a beard and that stovepipe hat. In fact, the hat is really crucial. Our market saturation surveys show that when you mention Lincoln, people always think of the tall hat even though you don't see it on any of our important national monuments. That's what I mean by brand confusion!
So as long as we're about to fund some gigantic public works programs, how about adding two key projects to support our national marketing goals ... get a hat on the guy in the Lincoln Memorial, and for heaven's sake, let's put one on Mount Rushmore, too! He's outside, for crying out loud! Think of the jobs that would be created by putting a stovepipe hat on the Rushmore Lincoln! That's a huge job, and we're just the people to do it! Let's give Abe a big birthday gift, and get serious about managing his brand!
Love, Peace and Marketing,
Spin Williams
Comments (31)
If you want to note a bigger beard than Abe's, it's also the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin. What a pair to draw to for Feb. 12, 1809.
And, in honor of old Abe, today is the centennial of the NAACP. Lot's to remember for those history students.
Thanks for the reminder about Darwin, Ken.
He didn't do a lot of music, and doesn't appear in many songs, except in the sense that the music business itself is a "survival of the fittest" environment. Or is it?
From the Hartford Courant (CT)
http://www.courant.com/entertainment/museums/galleries/hc-darwinlincolnevents0212.artfeb12,0,2357011.story
"Also taking place is "Darwin's Meditation for the People of Lincoln," a multimedia musical examination of the relationship between Darwin and Lincoln, at the Jorgensen Center for Performing Arts. The show compiles video, text and music to produce an imagined conversation between the two. Narrated by actor Daniel Beaty and produced by Daniel Bernard Roumain, the show features soloists and a 20-piece chamber ensemble. There is an open public rehearsal at 3:30 p.m., and the performance is at 8 p.m. Tickets for the performance are $28 and $30."
You probably can't get a recording of this yet.
There is a ringtone called "Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life: Some Assembly Required" that's available.
And there is a Richard Milner CD of "Charles Darwin: Live & In Concert" because, "back in the 1960s, when [he] was a graduate student at the University of California (UCLA and Berkeley), [he] began writing songs about Darwin and evolution and performed monologues with a jazz bassist at San Francisco coffee houses."
Morning Heartlanders. The fish songs are making me think of some other animals that survived despite some dangerous surroundings. Does Jasper still have "Hot Frogs on the Loose"?
Good morning Heartlanders!
Spin spins a good line, but he's on a slippery slope. I'm for a "Lincoln as we understand him". Let's foster inclusiveness and not polarize.
I confess that I fell for the Lincoln book craze and bought a Lincoln book and a Darwin book. I will read the Darwin, and the Lincoln is probably going to Friends of the Library (print is too small, ha-ha). But now the book on Lincoln and Frederick Douglass does sound interesting (thanks to MPR) - wonder how much it is... can I get super saver shipping?
Don't press send. Don't press send. Aw heck, SEND
Good morning Heartland,
A hat for Lincoln on Mt. Rushmore? That's about as likely as SD ever implementing a smoking ban in all public places. And for sure it wouldn't happen until Crazy Horse is finished. Great idea though!
Do you have, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes?
Good Morning RH!
Catching up on the last few days of blogs...I laughed at the reference to AxMan having shopped there often many years ago...
I became a bigger fan of Lincoln after reading Team of Rivals a few years back, this book will not help streamline his image! So many details! Happy Birthday Abe and Darwin too!
i just love getting up and going to the computer for this blog and my morning chuckles. thanks to all of you, Spin included, and please always press SEND. (or post)
Didn't Darwin write the "Easter Island" song?? well, he could have, he was in the vicinity........
I'm with Barb... always Send the messages off. I love hearing everyone's comments and perspectives. Always gets my morning going with smiles and laughs. Barb -- how are the goats this morning? How's the hay-only regimen going?
Good morning, all!
I see that Darwin was the one of the two to make it to the position of Google's illustration/logo this morning. (Google and Trial Balloon are the first two sites I open up every morning when I get to work.)
Barb, that's a great song suggestion!!! I also thought of Cole Porter's racy "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)" to celebrate the occasion of Darwin's contributions to science. ;-)
I guess Spin Williams will be avoiding Henry Louis Gates, Jr's new book on Lincoln.
I agree with Barb and Sherrilee...I love these early morning conversations and witty remarks. Saturday and Sundays are lonely indeed.
Good morning to all!
(Thanks, Dale & Mike, for the Ian and Sylvia. I just finished reading the NY Times op-ed piece by Gail Collins talking about "old is in" -- I've been listening to Ian and Sylvia since 1966)
Greetings Heartlanders!
I'm afraid I don't have anything interesting or witty to add to the blog today. Just wanted to say Hi to everybody and let Dale, Mike, et al know that I'm always here listening and totally enjoying the music. But now that boys are off to school, I think I might cuddle back in bed for a while. Carry on while I snooze for a bit ...
Good Morning!
As always, Dale has kicked the morning off in great style! The first song that came to mind for me is Hot Rod Lincoln, I wonder if it's in the library? But then it would be introducing yet another Lincoln perspective, not the unification that Spin Williams is looking for.
I wonder who was born today that will be remembered in 100 years? I think a trip to the library will be in order with the reading suggestions from everyone. What a great thing Radio Heartland is becoming; great tunes, good humor and now a book club.
Too many Lincolns?
I heard on MPR news while taking my morning 2-mile stroll (no HD receivers I can carry yet) that the first of 4 new Lincoln pennies is being released today.
More little brown coins for the change cups of the world's stores.
How about the Irish Rovers and "The Unicorn" - that lands right in the Darwinism vs. Creationism debate? Plus it's just a fun song, if it's in your library.
Good morning everyone....
As always an enjoyable morning listen. If you would have told me on that fatefull morning when Dale & Jim Ed made the anouncement that the morning show was over there would be something this AWESOME to replace it I never would have believed it!
Dale, I have a suggestion for a Dawinian song....how about Elvis Costello, From Monkey to Man?
Smiles in the morning.....Kate
oops...make that Darwinian.....
that's why we don't post until we preview.
I like Mark's question about who is born today who will be remembered in 100 years. Perhaps for Kay's 50th birthday on Monday, there could be a theme of "who was born on your birthday".
An old boyfriend of mine's birthday is today, and I always think of him on this day. One that got away!
Kate, that was a great suggestion! Made me think of Toots & the Maytals' song "Monkey Man". The Specials did a memorable cover of that one.
re Niblet's "chubby" problem: as his Grandma i see him as merely big boned. i'm afraid Nibby got his grain this morning. his rhetoric is just so convincing - arguing nature vs. nurture in honor of Darwin - so i gave him a half-ration and extra petting.
KD Lang song for him? "Big-boned Gal?" and we'll all sing "guy" when the gal comes up, right? thanks so much for your concern, Sherilee and all. :-)
Another Darwinian song - Glenn Yarbrough's "Down in the Jungle". Our 5th grade teacher used to play that for us. I can't find the lyrics, but it's something about monkeys in the jungle...
The "Lonesome Road 2" song reminded me of a great A cappella James Tayor song - Lonesome Road. (Dad Loves His Work cd)
Any chance we can hear it sometime?
Thanks for all the suggestions, everybody.
Kate, you and I thought of Elvis Costello's "Monkey to Man" at the very same moment! Great minds ...
What a great theme we have going today! I feel a bit left out having no goats even though we have a Border Collie a couple of cats. The pooch spends his days demonstrating the true difficulty of herding cats but of course being a Border Collie, he merely redoubles his efforts. I'm pretty sure that goats wouldn't work out very well here in St. Louis Park on our postage-stamp lot...
Dale and Mike must have put Jasper on half rations as well. Jasper is cutting off Dale's announcements through the day.
Maybe he thinks of it as the Jasper show :-)
I know it's too late for anyone but Jasper, but I also discovered that today is the anniversary of the birth of Bucky Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome.
Thanks for playing Mold Love, Dale. I'd never heard it but made the request because it sounded
funny - and it was. But not as funny as when you called Barb's goat, Niblet, "Nubby"yesterday. Wouldn't it be great if that's what she names the new kid? If twins - Nubby and Bubby!
To the Management - When do we get Radio Heartland window clings? I want to advertise this great service and make sure it stays around for a LONG time!
I am a thirty year listener to the morning rogram (sorry my keyboard no longer has " ". I originally felt included in 88.5, but after you and Jim ed left, I have felt totally left out. doesn't M R care about this demograhic (no question marks either or the other quotation mark. I've been looking for substitutes and found myself enjoying KFAI, but they can't be counted on for first thing in the morning. so my husband and I actually bought an HD radio, just for you dale. I'm glad to hear you talking more, and I'm looking forward to guest artists.
It's the second anniversary of the first broadcast of Radio Heartland and the Dale Connelly show on Dec 12... or maybe that's tomorrow since it was a Friday. In any case,Happy Anniversary and hey, thanks!
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