BizJournals Portfolio
Jul 10 2007 12:00am EDT

Simpsons, Springfield and Fox's Master Marketing--UPDATE!

It's been a long-running joke on The Simpsons: Where exactly is Springfield? In the series' 18-year history it has never been clear which of the 34 Springfield's in the United States was the basis for the version in the cartoon. Now, the Springfields across America are competing to claim the official title of the Simpsons' hometown and host the premiere of the Simpsons movie on July 27 (the winner will be announced today). Fourteen different towns submitted a video and viewers were allowed to vote online about which place best represents The Simpsons spirit. It doesn't matter much to me if it's Springfield, Illinois (which has a powerplant run by a man who apparently looks like Mr. Burns and is close to a town called Shelbyville) or Springfield, Oregon. What's interesting is that Fox has gone all old-school with the marketing campaign for this movie, pulling off publicity stunts that have, well, actually created publicity. First converting 7-Elevens into Kwik-E-Mart and now this? Who says that there's no imagination left in Hollywood?

UPDATE: Springfield, Vermont wins!


blog comments powered by Disqus
 
U.S. Uncovered

Which cities were still making money during the recession and which went under? Our analysis.

Best U.S. metro areas that are most conducive to the creation and development of small businesses.

A look at the places best primed economically to host a major-league sports franchise.

spotlight on

Multimedia

Wealth Central

The Great Recession certainly took its toll on cities across the United States. But even with high unemployment rates and declining wages, some communities have done very well for themselves. View Interactive Feature