Statehood, Branded

10.28.2011_statehood.png Residents, activists and local politicians have long spoken about the District becoming the 51st state, but no one has sought to actively brand the cause. Until now.

Earlier this week, Councilmember Michael A. Brown (I-At-Large) announced to his colleagues and to Mayor Vince Gray that he'd formally unveil a new brand for the statehood movement on November 8.

The brand, which is based on the logo of Destination D.C., the city's tourism and marketing agency, will be accompanied by the roll-out of a statehood-specific website, stickers, 100,000 brochures, 1,000 calendars and five distinct advertisements that will appear on 25 Metrobuses starting early next month. (One of the ads is pictured below.)

A Brown aide said that the longtime statehood advocate sought a "fresh, clean approach" for the cause's branding, and that he had already received positive feedback from a number of activists. The branding campaign will be tied to plans to get legislatures from across the country to pass ceremonial measures backing statehood for the District. This summer, at the request of Councilmember David Catania (I-At Large), a New Hampshire legislator introduced such a resolution.

This certainly isn't Brown's first foray into the fight for statehood. Earlier this year, he teamed up with Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) in an attempt to add "Taxation Without Representation" to the District's flag; Brown also proposed re-naming three prominent D.C. streets to bring more attention to the District's situation.

For years, statehood was put on the back burner as D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and local D.C. voting rights activists focused on legislation that would give the District a single voting seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. But since the failure of that proposal last year, activists and organizations have stepped up their demands for statehood and self-determination. On Wednesday, speakers at D.C. Vote's Champions of Democracy dinner spoke of a more aggressive stance that had been taken throughout 2011, including the arrest of 72 people at various protests.

Brown will officially unveil the new statehood branding campaign at 10:30 a.m. on November 8 in front of the John A. Wilson Building.

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By Martin Austermuhle in News on October 28, 2011 11:45 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Guye Jern

FUCK Michael A. Brown. As soon as I saw his name I stopped reading

Peter Orvetti

Just spitballin' here, but sometimes I think the best way to get "New Columbia" statehood would be to fold in Northern Virginia and maybe even Montgomery County and Prince George's County into one state. That would switch Virginia back to the GOP and make Maryland less Democratic, making the idea more palatable to Republicans not thrilled about adding two new Democratic senators.

Of course, massive constitutional impediments abound.

Andrew W

I actually think the logo is pretty good.

DCTransplant

Give the guy a break! Michael brown probably sketched this on his iPad while taking a dump! It's a pretty good effort for what it is if you ask me.

Shiba Fussa

What if PR becomes the 51st state, then its back to the drawing board and MS Paint to come up with a new logo. Because it could take years to develop a new logo with "51" taken.

slim_pickens

While I am pro-statehood, I don't think my OCD will be able to handle the imbalance of 51 stars in the blue rectangle. Could we just slap a giant DC over the entire thing?

St. Move

Or just create 9 more states to make it an even 60: South California, Northern Virginia, New New York, Real Texas, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, Fiji, and Iraq.

slim_pickens

I like this. Is Real Texas the same as Texico?

ADrauglis

I;m still in favor of Retro-Retrocession. Take Back Arlington!

St. Move

It would be nice to have Arlington back, but we sort of need that clear Potomac river demarcation line just in case the south ever decides to rise again (and this time we just let them go their separate way). So I vote we pack up Arlington and move it up where Bolling Air Force Base is now- it would fit nicely.

ADrauglis

Would there be room for all of the brown flip-flops?

DCTransplant

No no, before the brown flip-flopers escape across the river, we destroy the bridges.

St. Move

Sure, there's plenty of room over there for all your basic orange-liner needs.

poopieface

memo to DC council: Want to be considered for statehood? Clean up your fu***ing act! No one is ever going to seriously consider DC for anything with the likes of you in power. Wastes of space. All of you. You;re clearly so incompetent at running a city that you need to use this movement as an excuse to cover up your failures.

Ollie Pooeater

Does this mean we get to elect another layer of government above the city council and a governor as well as a mayor?

I mean, if we're doing it, we might as well do it right.

DCTransplant

Ok DC, can you get original for a change? Everyone knows Canada is the 51st state! so please don't try to steal their thunder!

Newhce

Have you ever gone to Canada and heard them talk like they are an independent country? It is so cute.

Qwerkie

Why do you hate America?

CJ_Scudworth

I guess they designed the logo this way just in case Republicans had forgotten that DC as a state would mean more Democrats in the Senate. Brilliant.

Pope Lando

State bird: mosquito
State tree: jizzberry tree (aka gingko)
State flower: a used hubcap

monkeyrotica

State narcotic: loveboat
State food: Rap Snacks
State sport: loitering
State song: "Woomp! There It Is!"
State motto: "Dealing With the Pudding.®"

slim_pickens

State mascot: Poopy

Qwerkie

State sport: hand dancing
State motto: "Bitch set me up!"

Shiba Fussa

Took a long time for someone to come up with the right motto!

CJ_Scudworth

State fossil: Marion Barry
State fruit: Jim Graham
State motto: "You are out of your goddamn mind."

knackers

State motto: "You're a fucking idiot:."
or "MOLLY(s)!"

Pope Lando

I thought the state motto was "Do you want the Navigator or the Tahoe?"

Samuel A. Moore

State motto: "What the shit is this"

Samuel A. Moore

There's a difference between secession, and just the partition of a new state...

Samuel A. Moore

If we're going to call the state "New Columbia" then we probably ought to take the D off, what will our postal code be? We should start embracing New Columbia in our messaging and brand.

Does the District outline look crooked to anyone else?

I'm glad CM Brown has time for this...

Ollie Pooeater

After watching V.O. last night on channel 13 asking the Inspector General Ethics Reform questions, I can say in no uncertain terms, that he has the IQ lower than the average DC Squirrel.

We have to have an City Council collective IQ average in the 85-90 range.

Samuel A. Moore

If only we had a City Council...

monkeyrotica

Here's what a "more aggressive stance" might look like.

http://poopiepoems.com/wp-cont...

yonas

That's the ugliest #@%#% logo. Could they have not commissioned a - oohhhh, I don't know - real graphic designer to comp up with a few possibilities?

IMGoph

amen! not to mention that the geography of the DC outline is all messed up. why is it skewed off of north like that?

Ollie Pooeater

It emphasizes Eastern DC at the expense of Western DC. Make your own assumptions as to why.

Ollie Pooeater

On 14th glance, it looks like they tried to add a birds eye perspective from the south.

I hope to god this design was done by some enterprising high school student.

ex-14thandYou

Perhaps MoCo is attempting to stake a claim to the entirety of Chevy Chase?

ex-14thandYou

Why hire a design agency when MS Paint and "1,001 Fonts!" will suffice?

monkeyrotica

Earlier this week, Councilmember Michael A. Brown (I-At-Large) announced to his colleagues and to Mayor Vince Gray that he'd formally unveil a new brand for the statehood movement on November 8.

Jesus f**k. Why is this guy still getting paid? I mean, what exactly does he do for a living besides slap statehood slogans on anthing that doesn't move? Apparently, his office phone is ringing off the hook with constituents demanding that he ignore the crumbling infrastructure and rampant corruption and keep reaching for that rainbow. If he's so hot for voting rights, he should just run for Shadow Senator where he can't do any more damage.

dumbfatsow

Does DC really need two Shadow Senators named Michael Brown?

Qwerkie

I hate the logo.

monkeyrotica

Well, at least it isn't in Comic Sans.

The barbarians are at the gates and this clown is showing off sloppy logos. Bra. Vo. And, no, he can't lobby for voting rights and conduct council business at the same time. It's been proven time and time again that Dc Councilmembers can barely walk and chew gum at the same time, let alone shakedown the cab industry to pay for forced abortions while handdancing and advocating for those neediest of District residents: the CHUDS.

Over the River

"yet they are denied ..."

"they"? wouldn't "we" be stronger? Sounds like an ad agency put it together.

innwdc

I actually think it's stronger as "they." If you say "we" it's easy to dismiss because the reaction is "well of course YOU want voting rights because you are part of the group in question." Using they makes it seem like someone else is acting on our behalf, and gives the "oh, i guess someone besides dc residents cares about this" credibility.

Over the River

Interesting take on it, thanks.

D_Rez

I agree on this one point.

Over the River

California will split into two states before DC becomes one and the "logo" will be meaningless.

Pope Lando

Of course, there are movements in Texas, Alaska and Vermont to secede from the US, so you never know.

Southpaw018

.....what?

Over the River

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...

'South California' proposed as 51st state by Republican supervisor

[Graphic of South California] http://www.latimes.com/media/g...

D_Rez

Along with West Texas?

monkeyrotica

And Gary can have himself declared Dark Lord of All Transylcolumbia while his puppet Hot Kwame raises an army of CHUDs to wage war against Middle Earth. The board is set. The pieces are moving. There is no escape, Frodo. Help must come to us.