FranklinNOW blogger Greg Kowalski was floored, flabbergasted, bewitched, bothered and bewildered to find out that the Franklin and Oak Creek Common Council’s, at the suggestion of a local PR firm, had decided to call the 27th Street Corridor…
THE BOOMGAARD DISTRICT
Greg wrote the following in, “A jaw dropper,” a blog he posted earlier today:
“What the heck? I definitely expect a few laughs from people over that name in the near future. My apologies to the Joint 27th Street Steering Committee, but that name is just...well...odd. Personally, I don't think the name fits in well with the modern ideas Franklin and Oak Creek have for the corridor. This name was decided upon by the prior Common Councils of Oak Creek and Franklin.”
What the heck, Greg says, using restraint.
He says the slogan is “odd.”
He also says the slogan doesn’t fit in with the modern approach and vision the corridor will be taking.
And Greg expects the announcement will generate some belly laughs once people hear the news.
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By George...
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Greg is absolutely right on all counts!
BOOMGAARD????
I hear BOOMGAARD and I envision a beer hall in Munich with lederhosen and tubas. Uh one and a two and uh……..
Ooom pah pah, ooom pah pah…. Ooom pah pah, ooom pah pah.
Why must everything we do when it comes to portraying ourselves and/or our image have to contain a funny costume, a cow, a beer gut, a bowling ball, or anything that’s really old?
Why don’t we just close off 27th Street to automobiles and trucks and only allow horse and buggies?
Now, I completely understand the affection for and nod to local history. BOOMGAARD is actually Dutch for “orchard” and orchards played a key role in the area’s past.
The problem is that as a signature slogan, BOOMGAARD (ooom pah pah) fails because very close to 100% of the people who hear the doggone word won’t know what the……….AHEM…….heck it means or its historical significance.
I guess it could have been worse. Instead of going with the Dutch word for “orchard,” the public relations specialists on the Franklin and Oak Creek Common Council’s could have chosen words from other languages for “orchard.” For example:
German: der Obstgarten
Makes you want to break out in Ein Prosit, doesn’t it…
French: verger
Nahhh!
Italian: Frutteto
Sounds a tad wimpy.
Lithuanian: Sodas
Is that classic or new, Coke or Pepsi?
And we can’t forget the Polish.
The Polish word for “orchard” is……
And I kid you not…………………….
Sad.
COME TO 27TH STREET AND VISIT THE SAD DISTRICT!!!!
To be fair, read the press release about the announcement with all the positive hype and spin.
I honestly believe that if the members of the Franklin and Oak Creek Common Council’s would have just asked me and Greg Kowalski, the two of us could have sat down in a room and in less than 15 minutes, FREE OF CHARGE, come up with a slogan a ………AHEM……heck of a lot better than:
BOOMGAARD!
Uh wunnerful, uh wunnerful, tank you boys!
