The urban brands census

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by mhays

I'll keep harping on Starbucks. When it became popular in the 90s and 00s, it was seen as Seattle exporting coffee (or a new take on coffee) to new places. It was more about news stories, as they've never done a ton of broadcast or print media iirc.

At the same time, other coffee brands with Seattle in the name also prolifterated due to the same media attention. And of course independents also rose simultaneously, both competing against Starbucks and leveraging the new trend of espresso drinking. Even in Seattle it was unusual to buy an espresso drink on the way to work until Starbucks showed up.

Starbucks' use of Seattle continues, maybe in smaller ways...the ubiquitous Pike Place blend for example refers to the Pike Place Market (or Pike Place the street) where their original and oldest surviving stores were/are located. And of course the oldest store has hordes of people in a line down the street at all times.

In terms of other local brands...hmm.

Olympia Beer used to be big. Others are all micros or micros that got bought up and are still probably regional.

Costco uses Kirkland as a house-brand name. Kirkland is a large, older suburb not far from their HQ.

Howsabout this blast from the past for Seattle?

[BnaBreaker]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Los Angeles

Damn... that brings me back. I had a pair of these when I was in second grade:



For some reason I thought that fish gill looking design was just the coolest thing ever.

[tech12]

Originally Posted by JManc

But the association between something like "Rice-A-Roni" and "San Francisco" still sticks decades later. There probably won't be new jingles but some of the old ones will be hard to kill and those companies will probably embrace them as long as possible. My first impression after seeing a SF streetcar for the first time a few years ago was that commercial from when I was a kid and it's been at least 20 years since I've seen it aired or even had that rice.

I find this funny, because i grew up in SF and have lived in or near it for my entire life, and i have never seen anyone eat rice-a-roni, and have never knowingly eaten it myself. Its the kind of thing that i forget exists until someone on the internet mentions it. Maybe i've just been hanging out around the wrong people lol

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by tech12

I find this funny, because i grew up in SF and have lived in or near it for my entire life, and i have never seen anyone eat rice-a-roni, and have never knowingly eaten it myself. Its the kind of thing that i forget exists until someone on the internet mentions it. Maybe i've just been hanging out around the wrong people lol

You haven't been hanging out with me but I've already said my experience is the same. Fact is, rice-a-roni is probably never served in a restaurant so the only way anyone could eat it is by buying it in a box and cooking it at home which, like I said, neither of us has ever known anyone to do.

@JManc

• Video Link

This is a streetcar:


https://www.streetcar.org/streetcars...06-muni-wings/

Propelled by an electric motor onboard the car.

The thing in the commercial is a cable car--propelled by a moving cable under the street onto which it "grips" and is pulled along.

By the way, I suspect the origin of rice-a-roni may be fideo, a thin Mexican pasta that is commonly broken into small pieces and browned before boiling. Most often it is used to make soup but if you added some rice before boiling, voila: rice-a-roni.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by dimondpark

LOL@Rice-a-roni, how ironic that such a down market brand should have so successfully grafted itself into the public psyche with respect to San Francisco, one of the most food conscious cities in the country.

Yeah how DARE they! The nerve of those guys!

[Acajack]

Isn't Harley-Davidson branded with Milwaukee?

A few others from a Canadian perspective:

Jack Daniel's - Lynchburg, Tennessee

And of course, Zinman Furs of Camden, New Jersey. Known to viewers of The Price is Right.

[Acajack]

Hershey's Chocolates- Hershey, Pennsylvania

[Acajack]

Tabasco Sauce - Avery Island, Louisiana

[Acajack]

The Brannock Device for measuring your feet for shoes (also known as The Syracuse Tool) - Syracuse, New York

[Acajack]

I would never associate Chipotle with Denver BTW.

[Acajack]

Disney - Orlando, Florida

[thoughtcriminal]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

• be directly named after the city or place within the city
• use the city or location in the slogan
• have some culturally specific tie to a city
• otherwise understood to be strongly associated with a particular city, or place within a city

Philadelphia
Philadelphia Cream Cheese

I didn't read through the whole thread, so forgive me if someone already brought this up, but Philadelphia cream cheese has nothing to do with Philadelphia, PA. It is named for the little town of Philadelphia in upstate New York, which has a substantial dairy industry.

[craigs]

Here's a brand that uses San Francisco (or, at least, a famous skyscraper in San Francisco) even though they're no longer headquartered in SF. I think they're in Baltimore now:



Here are some past and present examples of LA-themed branding:

Hollywood Video
LA Fitness
LA Gear
LA Looks
Malibu Rum
(Chevrolet) Malibu
(Chevrolet) Bel Air
(Pontiac) Catalina

[jbermingham123]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Hershey, PA

This one doesnt count. The town of Hershey was created by and named after the company, not the other way around. The company, in turn, was named after its founder, Milton Hershey

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by jbermingham123

This one doesnt count. The town of Hershey was created by and named after the company, not the other way around. The company, in turn, was named after its founder, Milton Hershey

Pretty sure it does based on the below rather loose "rules"...

To qualify, the brand should have one of the following qualities:

• be directly named after the city or place within the city
• use the city or location in the slogan
• have some culturally specific tie to a city
• otherwise understood to be strongly associated with a particular city, or place within a city

[pj3000]

Baltimore



Named after Baltimore's Old Bay steamship line.

[SIGSEGV]

Milwaukee (the tool company)
Bridgeport (the machine shop tool company)
Boston Consulting Group
Seattle's Best Cofee
Santa Cruz Operation (now defunct, also fuck Darl Mcbride)
Cisco Systems (named after San Francisco)
Hamamatsu (makers of PMTs and SIPMs)
Omaha Steaks (blech)
Corning (glass)
Pella (windows)

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Boston
Sam Adams

Sam Adams Boston Lager is an old Cincinnati beer called Christian Moerlein. Most Sam Adams beer distributed throughout the United States is brewed in Cincinnati. In the 1980s, a Cincinnati brewery called Hudepohl revived and distributed Christian Moerlein as a premium beer. It was the first boutique beer to be distributed in the United States. Sam Adams not only stole the recipe, it stole the concept. Sam Adams is literally brewed in the same building that the Christian Moerlein revival was brewed in in the early 80s. Sam Adams bought the building in 1996, displacing the Cincinnati beers that had survived 100 years. So for awhile the real Cincinnati beers were brewed in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Hudy 5K, Hudy 14K, Hudy Delight, Little Kings, etc. The Cincinnati beers are again brewed in Cincinnati about 5 blocks from the original brewery, but in a modified potato chip factory.

The old Moerlein Brewery is now Rhinegeist (not-so) microbrewery. You can see my house from the rooftop bar: https://rhinegeist.com/visit-us/rooftop/

There is a 14 kilometer running event in Cincinnati called the Hudy 14k. http://hudy14krun.com/#/main

[pj3000]

Santa Cruz, CA

Two different companies:
Santa Cruz bikes
Santa Cruz skateboards

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by thoughtcriminal

I didn't read through the whole thread, so forgive me if someone already brought this up, but Philadelphia cream cheese has nothing to do with Philadelphia, PA. It is named for the little town of Philadelphia in upstate New York, which has a substantial dairy industry.

I didn't know that. Thanks for pointing it out.