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Cowtown, USA??

N

Nu_Roo_2

I've been hearing a top-of-the-hour sweeper on WODC that says, "from Cowtown, USA...."  Is this cute and endearing or might it mildly (or more than mildly) offend some listeners who view Columbus as an "up an coming city?"  I do get a kick out of it, but wonder if it's appropriate.  Out-of-towners who notice it must wonder what the heck they're talking about, given this is Ohio, not Texas or Kansas City. I'm sure city officials who are trying to present Columbus as hip don't care for it. :)
 
If it were New Jersey I would say the announcement referred to the Cowtown Flea Market. Believe me, in New Jersey if you can get out into the country it is a blessing, even though there are some rural settings there.
 
You'd think that WCOL would be the Clear Channel station that would want to project that image of the city to its listeners, not WODC. I'm proud to be helping a station that makes people think of Columbus as a Wowtown, not a Cowtown, as they listen to and enjoy its programming.
 
jakej said:
I'm proud to be helping a station that makes people think of Columbus as a Wowtown, not a Cowtown, as they listen to and enjoy its programming.
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I like the way you put that! All these politicos bloviate about how we've got to prove Columbus isn't a cowtown, but none has come up with anything as simple and memorable as "we've got to show the country we're a Wowtown, not a Cowtown." I know you were plugging YTS but you should consider trying to get into city politics or PR.
 
Silkie said:
If it were New Jersey I would say the announcement referred to the Cowtown Flea Market. Believe me, in New Jersey if you can get out into the country it is a blessing, even though there are some rural settings there.
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I've only seen urban NJ, but I've heard that some of the rural areas there are very pretty. Maybe I should check Google Cowview.
 
Nu_Roo_2 said:
I like the way you put that! All these politicos bloviate about how we've got to prove Columbus isn't a cowtown, but none has come up with anything as simple and memorable as "we've got to show the country we're a Wowtown, not a Cowtown." I know you were plugging YTS but you should consider trying to get into city politics or PR.
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Guess I'd better get Wowtown trademarked, too! And actually I was plugging WCRS, as some of the people here get a bit miffed when I plug you know what too much. And as for that final suggestion, well, I'm open to offers. God knows no one in this town's radio business is gonna hire me.
 
There are areas of Northern New Jersey that are beautiful in Bergen up north, in Northern Passaic, Sussex, Morris, Hunterdon, & Warren counties. It's not all urban in NJ i.e. Camden, Paterson, Newark, etc. There's more mountains in the North but its beautiful and not too far from the city (NYC)
 
I am a lifelong resident of Columbus/Central Ohio. If you (generically) get upset that someone refers to Columbus as a Cowtown, you have far too few things to worry about. Congratulations on having an easy life.
 
I like the sense of humor poking fun at the city's reputation; perhaps I would pay attention to the Blue Jackets (never liked that name) had they been named the Mad Cows, as hoped for by The Other Paper
 
antares said:
I like the sense of humor poking fun at the city's reputation
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Me too.  They have also used something along the lines of "Land of the Buckeyes" (no-brainer), and, IIRC, "Land of the Free."

Or they could build off of Jack-Fm's idea and say something like. "Broadcasting from a dumpy little building on 5th Ave next to a big hole in the ground..."
 
I always laugh at how many people take offense when people (like myself) refer to Columbus as a "Cowtown". Personally I like to refer to Port Columbus as "Port Cowtown International" seeing how hilariously small it is with so few airlines serving Columbus; and every time I make this reference to Columbus folk they take it as a insult to "their" city. I have lived in other "cow towns" Denver, Kansas City, Dallas; and it seems the good people of Central Ohio take "cowtown" a little more seriously then those in the other "cow town, USA" cities. Columbus is weird.
 
It wasn't too long ago the FAA threatened to take away Columbus' "international" designation because not enough international flights were originating from here.

Either they corrected the problem or just never bothered to change the name of the airport officially.
 
Ya'll are forgetting it's not "Cowtown" but "Cow-lumbus." Tho' I don't really get it. use that for Delaware, Ohio, maybe. Or Bucyrus. Maybe someone's subconsciously referencing the Elsie the Cow and Elmer the Cow corporate icons from when Borden was a major player in town. But that's ancient mid-20th century history by now.
I've always seen Columbus as a mostly white-collar town and suburbs - and rural landscapes complete with working farms don't really dominate the landscape till you get well past the warehouses, subdivisions, industrial parks, and nighttime patterns of most local AM stations -- many miles beyond the city limits. The landscape to the northwest of Marysville can be lovely this time of year.
 
m-w.com's second definition of cowtown is "a usually small unsophisticated town within a cattle-raising area."

About 25-30 years ago Columbus had a mayor (Tom Moody) who bragged that Columbus was the "biggest small town in America."

And it wasn't that long ago that there actually were cows grazing on an OSU agricultural field near Lane and Kenny.  I remember seeing a picture in the Chicago Tribune showing this in such a way that it almost looked like the cows were downtown.

These are just a few examples of the kinds of things that have reinforced the "cowtown" image to locals, and to non-locals (who had any image of Columbus at all).   

My own opinion is that Columbus is a definitely not a cowtown in 2012, but that it still has a fair amount of cowtown running through its veins.

BTW, maybe for July 4 93.3 is planning to do a greatest-hits "Cowtown Countdown."  Try saying THAT five times fast.
 
dawg4life said:
You can hear country on 92.3, 94.1, 94.3, 95.5, 100.3, and 107.1 in Columbus so obviously somebody thinks we're a cow town.
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Awhile back I remember someone who should know saying that research shows that the "country lifestyle" is huge in this market. We probably discussed that back when 102.5 first moved in as country.
 
Nu_Roo_2 said:
BTW, maybe for July 4 93.3 is planning to do a greatest-hits "Cowtown Countdown." Try saying THAT five times fast.
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Now YOU'RE on to something -- trademark that!
I was going to put together a special episode of "Secrets" just for you, Nu, featuring nothing but songs about cows -- but then I realized that I don't have any songs about cows. Whoops, sorry, I do (sort of): Steely Dan's "Black Cow".
 
jakej said:
I was going to put together a special episode of "Secrets" just for you, Nu, featuring nothing but songs about cows -- but then I realized that I don't have any songs about cows. Whoops, sorry, I do (sort of): Steely Dan's "Black Cow".
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Well it's the thought that counts, so thank you (I think). Of course you forgot about the Cowsills.
 
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