For Brand Atlanta, today was a closing day
The Brand Atlanta campaign has been de-funded by the city.
‘’Where the music makes you drop to your knees
There is no other place I’d like to be
A-T-L, A-T-L (get ‘em up, get ‘em up, get ‘em up, get ‘em up…)
Ah, who can forget such deathless lyrics, as penned by Atlanta’s hometown super-producer Dallas Austin? Well, actually, I had to look them up to refresh my memory because I hadn’t heard anyone play “The ATL” in recent months.
And you probably won’t be hearing it much any time soon. On Monday, Mayor Shirley Franklin announced that Brand Atlanta, the city’s flashy marketing arm, was being mothballed after three years due to the lousy economy. The marketing effort will no longer have a budget or a staff.
But that doesn’t mean you’ll never see the familiar bright red ATL bullet hole again. All of Brand Atlanta’s existing designs, slogans and other self-described “assets” are city property and can be trotted out any time, Franklin said.’’