Just a quick post before I get picked up by a PA (that’s Hollywoodese for “Production Assistant”) for meetings with the director and wardrobe.
I’m currently internetsing from my swank Santa Monica hotel room that sort of overlooks the ocean (“sort of” because there’s a major roadway between us that all but eliminates any tranquility the view might otherwise have had).
What is up with the seemyLA tourism ad campaign? Posters were plastered all around LAX. Surely, I can’t be the only person who reads that as seamy LA? Were they being ironic, or just clueless?
I vote "clueless."
Like a few long-time Angelenos I’ve met – especially westsiders – the LA Inc. people lack the perspective to see what things might look like to the outside world. Or if the outside world would even give a damn.
I think this was in the same vein as the short-lived debut some time back of the Chevy Nova in Mexico (Spanish for “doesn’t go”) or a forum I contribute to on occasion call Experts Exchange, whose original URL was http://www.expertsexchange.com. They put a hyphen in, but now some other folks use the original URL as an ad portal.
In other words, clueless!
Actually, “no va” means “doesn’t go” and is different from the Spanish word “nova.” Contrary to popular belief, the Nova did not flop in Mexico, and actually sold well in all of its markets for the better part of a decade. The SeeMyLa ad campaign is really stupid though. I’m not sure how people don’t catch these things ahead of time.