April 2, 2007
Toronto Is A Capital Of Style! A Website Says So!
We here at Torontoist are always fans of new campaigns to boost our fair city's reputation, but the problem is that most of these campaigns are, shall we say, kind of pathetic. No, actually -- not "kind of." They're just pathetic. Almost universally they cast Toronto as a handy convenient replacement for some other city you'd like to go to. "Toronto! It's almost like Paris, and you don't have to spend money on a transoceanic flight!" "A trip to Toronto is like a trip to New York, but on a Buffalo budget!" "Toronto: the Sydney of the northern hemisphere, with less ocean!" And of course we were quite disparaging regarding the city's most recent attempt in this area.
So when an independent effort arises to publicize Toronto, we're all ears and happy to give it props. Unfortunately, Global Capital of Style is not what we were looking for. It starts off with the background image of a very punchable-looking hipster, and just proceeds downhill from there at a rapid clip.
Firstly, of their eight initial ads on the website, two feature Mike Myers. Yes, Mike Myers is funny. (Or was funny, depending on your point of view.) But Mike Myers isn't an ad for Toronto. He doesn't live here any more. Yes, this is the time of year when he goes on talk shows pointedly wearing his Leafs jersey so we all remember he's technically still Canadian content, all the better for when his career finally sputters and dies and he moves back here to capitalize off our remaining nativist goodwill like Norman Jewison did, but how is that an advertisement for Toronto?
Come to think, why is an advertisement with Myers dressed as Austin Powers clever and relevant? And look at some of these other references. Prince? Martin Short? Diddy, for fuck's sake? Sorry, but did someone forget to tell Torontoist it is actually eight years ago now? How about something a little less dated? (Torontoist would like to see a promotional poster for Toronto that talks about how our hips do not lie. That's only a year or so played out, which in tourism-time is the language of tomorrow.)
Even worse, throughout these advertisements, the language is -- and we're being generous here -- stilted and awkward. "We are not funny... We are really, really funny!" They're called apostrophes, people! Look into them! "PS. Sorry Justin sexy never really did leave..." Yes, it did! It left with the commas that were supposed to be in that sentence fragment!
And yet, the badly phrased advertisements are the high point of the language to be found on globalcapitalofstyle.com, because for some really enjoyable terrible writing, you must delve into their manifesto, which reads like the emo poetry on the MySpace of an intern fired from the city's tourism committee. "Enough of the money spent on ads going into major American media that hasn't even been spelt check." Or, even more delicious: "We don't do thing half-ass." (Yes. "Thing." Singular.) How about "Far too long has the city been mired in crappy advertising and nonsensical marketing"? My God, there's only so much irony that the average human can withstand!
In short: the next time you complain about the latest shitty ad campaign put together by the city to promote tourism here, take a moment to remember that it could be far, far worse. You could live in a Global Capital of Style.
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Hm. While I admire the attempts to market toronto to even mention the city in the same breath as new york or even sidney is not really fair. TO is a big city, yes, but it's not an alpha city.
As a chicagoan, though it may be hard to accept for me, we are a secondary (in fact, the second!) city much like toronto. Personally, I think there's something to be said for being a second city - cheaper, more liveable, more than enough urban but not enough to be overwhelming. I think those should be both TO's and Chicago's selling points for now - and there's nothing wrong with that.
Positively shoot-tastic!
seriously...you missed the whole point...any idiot can see that..you are so wrapped up in dissing any campaign for Toronto..that you don't even realize what this site is trying to do....I mean it takes two seconds to realize that these cards are meant to be EXAMPLES of why toronto is the style capital....
..and dissing mike meyers is good...he grew up in toronto and has influenced pop culture in a huge way...why shouldn't that be mentioned?....
you hate this just a bit too much...I mean the point is to get people to sumbit their own reasons..where are yours?
I personally dig it...and that's my two cents...
I mean it takes two seconds to realize that these cards are meant to be EXAMPLES of why toronto is the style capital...
Yes. They are stupid examples.
so..where are yours then....
> more than enough urban but not enough to be overwhelming .. I think those should be both TO's and Chicago's selling points for now
I can see it now... "Toronto and Chicago: Not Overwhelming"
You're hired!
Wait, how was this promoted? It seems like an OCAD final project.
Yeah. Gives me class-project vibes. No contact info, no group info, no please-send-money-or-questions-here info. Basically a two-page website. You sure you didn't unleash the mighty hate of Torontoist on some poor kid's final project?
That's a good point, Kevin. I wonder if he and Mark Daye are in the same class.
I'm not hip, pretty square in fact, and I thought these were lame-o!
They are going for trendy and the examples they site are so out of touch. Eugene Levy and Martin Short? Yeah, they're going to bring the tourist hordes in! What about Nelly Furtado, she's red-hot and a current resident.
BTW, didn't Prince divorce the Toronto girl, like a year ago? Elton John is still married to his Toronto locale - that's more hip than anything in this ad campaign.
I hope they don't actually publish this anywhere!
Jarod, since when are suggestions considered a necessary part of criticism? If I don't like a song, am I supposed to suggest new chords or new lyrics? Bird has beef. Let there be beef.
(I sure do hope that we didn't pick on some poor OCAD student, though.)
listen....my thing is not that he has criticism....I actually agree with some of the stuff he is saying...
some of the reasons are definitly lacking..
all I am saying is that the concept of the capital of style resonates with me....
we do do things with style....that's what sets us apart..and that's probably why the powers that be...and the rest of us...can't seem to come up with an ad campaign....
I also agree with some of the manifesto thingy....
my thing is that he disses the reasons...without coming up with his own to back up why he should be dissing them..why not talk about the concept as a whole....
i thought the whole point of this thing was to get the people to submit....I mean the Elton John one works...
that's all I am saying...
I should add that the Torontoist staff are relatively autonomous in what they post, which is exactly the way we want it. There are some on staff who may disagree with the post as well, but discourse is both healthy and interesting.
Beef is one thing, just a barf-out of hate is another. This writer seems to represent Torontoist a lot. Always critical of everything with weird unfunny jokes. My image of him is the comic book guy on the Simpsons.
This is the worst thing I've ever seen.
You should have at least tried to find out who created the site before writing such a harsh (and mean) review. Of course you're entitled to your opinion - BUT this could be the work of an eager high school student with honest intentions and crushed dreams :( (no, I don't know who did this either)
this guy says toronto is a "capital of culture" in his brand new photoblog
http://www.rawliver.com/2007/04/02/what-the/
Whomever designed the site made a concerted effort not to be identified, for the record (masking the domain WHOIS, no external links, nothing identifiable in the page source). They also have the capitalofstyle.com domain, so I'm curious if there is a company behind this somehow because it smacks of a viral marketing campaign.
I would like to know why this guy hates this site so much. I just checked it out and it seems they just want people to submit their reasons. Looks pretty straight forward to me. At the sake of being dissed by this guy, I wanna say I actually like some of the reasons.
And if this guy is such a genius, why didn't he pick up the reference to Justin was probably this guy's response to Justin Timberlake's diss song to Prince.
Yeah, that raw liver guy seems to think that culture = photoblogging, while this individual equates style with sell-out comedians, so I'm guessing not the same person (though perhaps similarly confused). So the examples are crappy (oh yeah, Austin Powers is so hot right now, and we know all the global fashion elite are just flocking to Yonge Street for their Payless shoes and House of Lords haircuts). And I'm sure we can all think of a few more timely and, well, more stylish examples (TFW, world renowned galleries, brilliant musicians). But the fact is, the entire concept is faulty. Toronto is many things, but Global Capital of Style? I think not. In Canada alone, TO faces some serious competition from Montreal. And if this is some student project? Hey, the kid's gotta learn, man.
Didn't Prince and his Torontonian wife recently get divorced?
Come to Toronto! Why? Because Mike Myers used to live here (sort of)! And some basketball player won some award! Yes!
AGO? ROM? Toronto Zoo? TIFF? Weekly ethnic festivals of one kind or another in the summer? Pride? Caribbana? The CN Tower? SkyDome? NHL, NBA, and MLB teams? The Islands? Forget that noise! It's all about what city Prince's ex lived in!
On a circus tent background!
I agree completely with Pandora. I don't care if it's a real campaign or some student's project or viral marketing by some corporation. The idea is just plain bad.
And further, Mike Myers, Prince, Martin Short and Diddy all achieved their greatness in the US not in Toronto. The premise of the ads are the equivalent of saying that I am a superhero because my cousin has a Batman costume.
i think these comments are indicative of the reputation that the world has of Toronto..that we are a bit chickenshit to support our own an walk around with a massive inferiority complex...the fact is that all the reasons make sense...but instead..people are dissin people's careers and the fact that Prince got divorced....the fact that Mike Meyers is from here is big...the fact that Prince married a Torontonian and loves it here is big....the fact that we have a huge film fest is big...Canadians are known for being funny..it's big that Torontonians are the funniest of the bunch....it's big that Diddy comes here to relax and party...isn't that what its' all about? the reasons why Toronto is hated by the rest of Canada including our own government..cause we do things our own way and attract people to it who think and act the same.....but god knows..all of you geniuses here know otherwise....cause it's like if we do actually accept that we are an 'alpha' city that we will all melt or something....
I like this idea because it stakes a claim on something....and backs it up...so what if you don't like the answers..as I said before..come up with your own.......but these reasons are backin it up....and where i come from...it's not braggin if you can back it up....
I agree with Rek. It's such an insult to the city and its true native talent when we piggyback on the fame of people who have no meaningful connection to Toronto.
no meaningful connection?
I dare you to say that to Russell Peters who just sold out his first show at the ACC and had to add another.....
and what about the filmfest?
I am disgusted by most of the negative comments here. I would bet that even Greenland has more pride in its own country and its people -- whether they still live there or not, whether they are still hot or not, whether their successes were achieved on foreign land or not. And that's no dis to Greenland (just randomly picking a small country to make a point).
I'm freakin' proud to be from Toronto, and no cheezy ad praising my city is going to piss me off and provoke such hate for famous (or non-famous) Torontonians -- EVER.
So our city is loved by some anonymous people, some unknown web-site -- WHO CARES what the ad looks like?! Just take the city love and don't turn it into hate!
Your whiny-ass bitching is just plain pathetic.
...and before someone undoubtedly ignores the real point behind my post and brings up my reference to Greenland as being "small", I was referring to its population density -- the smallest in the world. Not its geographic scale.
Hm, I think some are mistaking the Globalcapitalofstyle-dissing for Toronto-dissing. Au contraire, most of the "negative comments" seem to reject limiting Toronto's rep to our exported comedians and imported divorced popstars. And most are accompanied by more suitable examples. I think the reason people aren't contributing these to the site in question is because it's a lame concept to begin with.
Jerod: I assume you're referring to me, since you used my exact phrasing ... I was talking about examples like Prince and Elton John's exes. We're not even trying to ride on the fame of people with no connection to our city (or country), but just their SPOUSES. How sad is that? We have much more to be proud of.
Not sure where I (or Rek, whom I referenced) brought up Russell Peters ...
I think we can be absolutely proud about TIFF, if that's "the" film fest you're talking about. It has lots of international and foreign (i.e. non-Toronto) content, but WE host it. Much of the content may be imported, but a film fest is also about atmosphere, glamour, etc. and the city provides that. TIFF is a showcase for Toronto.
actually...if I look at some of the posts...the dissing is just as much on the city...
'we are not an alpha city'
'In Canada alone, TO faces some serious competition from Montreal'...
granted some people don't like the concept..everyone is entitled to their blah blah...
the funny thing is that I guarantee half the people who are dissing this site....(Cause that is all it is right now)....haven't even taken the time to visit it...they are going off the opinion of this writer
(who I'm with Joanne on this btw...is a little full of himself..I read some of his other articles...and he's got issues..he's kinda like the Bill O'Reilly of the Blog scene..trying to get traffic through over the top unsubstantiated opinions...)
the comedians are one card...one reason.and I am the only one who gets the Toronto funny reference..canadians are known for being funny and having a good time....the best ones in the world have come from Toronto....so there must be something in the water..and my reference to Russell was based on the fact that he is on the same card that meyers, levy and short are on....
and the TIFF reference...you are making the site's point.....it is pretty much a foreign thing...mostly foreign films (non-canadian) but we host so that's cool....but we host...that's part of what/who we are....rusell peters started his career here..he is in demand all over the world...is a sell-out or not worthy...mike meyers did the same thing....so did Eugene Levy..and Martin Short...are they not part of who we are...should we be not proud of the fact that we have the water that makes people funny...no really really funny..(sorry couldn't help myself)
the fact is...that the city doesn't do things half-ass like the declaration thingy says...we do them big....film fest, caribana, our funny people, our party scene..(which is diddy and a whole host of others come up here so much to party) ..there is a long ass list....
my opinion is that if you don't get that...then you don't get the city...and all you want the city to be is a second-rate cousin to other cities..and get the hand me downs....well unfortunately we don't do that...so why should we act like it...you guys can..but I for one will not....
so there..:P
Very few people fly across the country (or planet) to visit a place just because someone famous lived there. And face it, if you can sell Toronto to someone based on "where Prince lives" or "where Mike Myers was born" they're probably a big Prince or Myers fan already.
People go places because there are things to see and do and experience. Theme parks and big landmarks, things like museums and galleries, the local music scene, event attractions (TIFF, the Short Film Festival, etc), sports-related stuff like playoff games, the hockey museum, and on and on and on. Any promotion campaign should be as specific about these sorts of things as they can -- name the film festivals hosted here, name the professional sports franchises that call this place home, list the comedy festivals and music festivals and ethnic/community festivals. Toronto isn't New York; you say "King West" and people don't think of theatres and stage productions the way "Broadway" inspires the same imagery, so a campaign would have to give people concrete reasons to come.
I believe it's possible to promote Toronto as a "style" mecca, but this project really doesn't do it.
the comedians are one card...one reason.and I am the only one who gets the Toronto funny reference..canadians are known for being funny and having a good time....the best ones in the world have come from Toronto....so there must be something in the water..
This is bull.
Look, the math is simple: with any significantly large population of people, small fraction X of that population will be really funny. Like, take Boston: Denis Leary, Stephen Wright, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Louis C.K., Rosie O'Donnell, Colin Quinn, Kathleen Madigan, Joe Rogan, et cetera. (And Dane Cook, but he doesn't count because he sucks.) Do we say "wow, Boston is one funny city?" No, of course not.
The "Canadians are funny" thing is no more than the product of generations of hype that we all buy into because it's a nice thing to think about your country. (The only place in the world where there are actually heaps more funny people than average is New York City, and that's because funny people who want to have a career being funny tend to make tracks for New York, for obvious reasons.)
And given that it's supposed to be a Toronto campaign, maybe they could have done their homework. Eugene Levy and Martin Short were born in Hamilton, went to McMaster, and once they made it big with SCTV moved to L.A. just like everybody else from here who makes it big does. (Except for John Candy, but Candy is dead and therefore putting him on a billboard is kind of morbid.)
our party scene..(which is diddy and a whole host of others come up here so much to party)
1.) Diddy doing anything is the definition of second-rate. Bragging about being Diddy's party spot of choice is, like, fourth-rate.
2.) Yeah, our party scene which shuts down at two in the morning by law. You realize most cities don't have curfew hours? (Which, actually, I like, because I hate late-night clubbing and the noise associated with it, which is one of the reasons I like it here. But I'm not the one trying to say we have a "legendary" party scene.)
I honestly cannot understand this focus on promoting individuals who might hail from Toronto. I don't go to Paris, New York, Chicago, London, Milan, wherever because someone famous was born or once lived there. I go there because of the people, the culture, the history, the events, the venues, and the city itself (architecture, green space, landmarks, the list goes on) -- things that are part of the fabric of Toronto, and much more universal and lasting than one person's career.
Oh, crap, well, I see Rek's made my point. There you go.
Just because I accept TIFF as a legitimate point of pride doesn't mean I think Prince's ex-wife is also an integral part of Toronto's cultural identity. I'm really not sure how those two can be equated.
So, it's obvious that Jarod Vhale is the author of the "Global Capital of Style" site. What's not obvious at all is why The Explosively Talented Christopher Bird thought that it was worthy of comment.
oh..because I am defending it
I am all of a sudden the author...
whatever dude...
you guys fun.....
I am done...
I seen a few comments here about Canadians going to L.A. and New York to further themselves in their career and it is a good point but that doesn't mean they are no longer Torontonians. Yes if you want to make it big in film you should look for work in L.A.....yes if you want to further yourself in music New York is the place to be. But just because you move there and continue to grow in the states why all of a sudden say that they have no significant tie to the city?
Lots of cities are known for their strong points. So it would be a foolish mistake to NOT go to New York or L.A. to further yourself in the entertainment industry. So what they moved there. They are still Torontonians and to tell you the truth a ton of the movies coming out now are filmed here....maybe not all of it, but a lot more movies are filmed here BECAUSE OF OUR CITY! We don't need to go elsewhere to find celebrities because they come to us.
We are known for the TIFF. We are known for Caribanna. We are known for being the most multi-cultural city in the world and that is why people come here. That's why they visit and that is what will keep them coming back. Yes we have funny comedians who travel the world blessing everyone with their Canadian humor and all of you love it. So to have the "I don't care" attitude because they moved WHERE THE WORK IS...not because they don't want to be in Toronto is a stupid thing to say. I'm sure if your dream job asked you to relocate to China you would go. And if all your friends said you’re a sell out you would have to set them straight.
Every Torontonian should be acknowledged for their success no matter how long it's been since they lived here. I hate the negativity here and will defend it to the end.....does that make me the author now? If so BRING IT ON!!!!
Toronto is an impossible marketing task. There's nothing here but bankers, lawyers and the people who service them. Who would knowingly vacation in such in a place?
Regardless of the "Torontonianness" of celebrities who moved out 20 years ago and never came back, how is it possibly a good idea to put them on posters promoting the city? Visit Toronto, because this guy USED TO LIVE THERE! Yay!
No: boo.
1st of all...Oliver's comment is just an embarrassment to this whole conversation.
Rek: I don't think it's about the fact that they USE to live here. It's the fact they are Torontonians and followed their career to build a legacy.
Eye Weekly just ran a HUGE section where they dub Toronto the City with Style...
and then have lots of proof....
coincidence?
yeah...I don't think so..
so screw you all the haters..
I believe it's possible to promote Toronto as a "style" mecca, but this project really doesn't do it.
[32] Posted by: rek | April 4, 2007 1:38 AM
Who said Toronto doesn't have any style to speak of? I think all or most of the criticism of your the project on that point was that the examples were hella lame, poorly argued, and not a good reason to come to Toronto.
so submit your own jackass...
if you had actually visited the site..
and not listen to bill o'reilly of the blog scene here...you would see that that was the whole point...
and for the last time..it's not mine...
I would have designed it better...at least used a different background..
I guess the previous post got deleted....
but eye magazine seems to agree with the idea of the being a city with style...
go visit Eye's website and check it out for yourself...
so stick that in your pipe and smoke it...