Photo by Alan Kotok.
In what critics say is the lamest-sounding marketing campaign to make D.C. sound cool to tourists, Destination D.C.—the city’s official convention and tourism corporation—has launched “D.C. Cool.”
The campaign—which the “city expects to spend about $3 million on,” according to the Washington Business Journal—is aimed at luring visitors away from only seeing traditional tourism spots, like the National Mall, monuments, and Smithsonian museums, and getting them to visit various other cultural landmarks and neighborhoods outside of downtown D.C.
It’ll launch in February, in order to coincide with an installation the Portrait Gallery is doing that month called “American Cool,” which will feature mostly black-and-white photos of American icons that define, well, cool: Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Miles Davis. That’s where the organization got the idea from, Destination D.C. director of communication Sarah Maciejewski tells DCist.
The D.C. Cool campaign will also use Destination D.C.’s partnerships with Cultural D.C., the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, in order to introduce visitors to the the city’s vibrant nightlife and restaurant scene, hopefully putting to rest the egregious rumor that there are no good sandwiches in This Town.
“So many people think of D.C. as big government, and money men, and serious history, and that’s all good. But there’s such a bigger piece to the city,” Maciejewski said. “D.C. Cool is all about getting them off the National Mall to experience the nightlife, and the neighborhoods, and the restaurants. To get a feel for the cool side of the city.” Still have your doubts?
While the campaign’s hammy title may attract haters, Destination D.C. is relying on the people of the city to tell visitors what’s cool, which is actually pretty cool. Destination D.C. creative director Marquis Perkins tells DCist that this campaign will be “driven by visitors and residents, for the most part,” rather than Destination D.C. deeming what’s cool and what isn’t in the city: “It’s not so much us telling people what’s cool, we actually want people to tell us what they think is cool when they’re here.”
However, after a recent presentation about D.C. Cool to stakeholders and press, not everyone was impressed. Although the video isn’t up online anywhere yet, the WBJ reports that it wasn’t exactly the most reassuring presentation of D.C.’s “coolness.”
The key pillars of D.C. Cool are the words “bold, original, unique, dramatic and inspiring.” The vibe the city is trying to portray is highlighted in a short video that attempts to embody cool: There’s deep-voiced narration that sounds suspiciously like Morgan Freeman, there’s the oh-so-trendy fish-eye camera shots, there’s jazz in the background.
“Unfortunately, a presentation is never cool, and I hope we did it in a way that people felt was cool,” Maciejewski said. Perkins understands where the haters are coming from, but assures DCist that it won’t be like that. “I think they would have a point if it was just us telling people what cool is,” Perkins said. “But it’s really about people experiencing things and them telling other people what they think is cool in D.C.”
