COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOUSTON NEEDS A NEW T-SHIRT 
“. . . LA and New York marketers just don’t know enough about Houston or don’t bother to learn more. They just hear ‘Houston’ and queue up the rocket launch. This might have been magnified by the rumor that PR firms in Houston were overlooked to market the Super Bowl. But maybe now that the elites have seen Houston thanks to the Super Bowl that will change. It is like when you tell your great-aunt you like Lord of the Rings when you are 12 and so she buys you LOTR T-Shirts for the next 20 years.” [rex, commenting on Taking on the ‘Houston, We Have a Problem’ Problem]
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How much do you know about Chongqing? Toulouse? Few people will bother to learn much about the 4th largest city in a any country.
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We should embrace our problem solving fame. When people have big problems, Houston is the place to get them fixed.
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And wear those Lord of the Rings T-shirts with pride.
It ain’t going to happen. Cities can have only one catchphrase and they don’t control them.
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Just be glad we have one at all.
As a Rice alum, I had to finally tell my mom after decades to stop giving me owl stuff for Christmas. I understand why she did–it makes Christmas shopping a lot easier! But enough already!
Rockets are an easy thing for people to remember.
2001: A Space Odyssey ..That is ONE of Houston’s t-shirt slogans !
love this framing. Stop bemoaning the phrase. When the toughest problem needed an answer it called on Houston.
Lots of problems houston has solved…refugees, peak oil, Katrina refugees. Yea there is some exaggeration, but we live in a world now that exaggeration and showmanship is put in the most powerful office…so embrace it.
Houston, we have a problem. World, we can solve it.
New York we have a problem…we can allocate capital!
Las Angeles we have a problem…we can make a movie and protest!
Chicago we have a problem…we can murder it!
Picture this:
General outline of the state of Texas, big red arrow pointing at big green dot, and the words:
“HOU are here”
Lots of problems solved…
Including saving the Apollo 13 crew that started this catchphrase debacle. Didn’t they use a coffee filter or another unassuming piece of paper to create an air filter? Why does no one follow up with this answer? Without this, it applies “Houston” failed.
Another significant solution; the Astrodome. First large scale indoor sports stadium in the world. First time baseball and football could be played indoors. Prior, fans had an endure high humidity and swarms of mosquitos. I heard that mosquito spray outsold beer at the Colts Stadium.
Oh, and the failed grass in the Astodome led to Astroturf. How many teams and players (ie. J.D. Clowney) can be thankful for artifical turf?
How about Houston solves the problem of traffic. Then I will be truly impressed