“Ford Square” will be the latest in Toronto’s long line of unfortunate name sponsorships
The Post reports that Maple Leaf Square, the space outside the Air Canada Centre where sports fans gather to watch games on a giant screen, will soon be renamed “Ford Square.” The new monicker isn’t a reference to the mayor (he wouldn’t be the first living chief magistrate to get a square named after himself, though he would be the first to earn that distinction on the heels of a rehab stint). The name is actually an homage to the Ford Motor Company, which is set to announce a major sponsorship deal with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
The square’s renaming is obviously unfortunate, not only because of the inevitable confusion with the automaker’s crack-smoking soundalike, but also because the square currently has a name that means something to the people who spend time there, and soon it will have a name that means nothing to anyone but the people who brokered the sponsorship deal. But is this the worst instance of corporate renaming in Toronto’s recent history? Not even close. Here, a brief rundown of other things companies have managed to get named after themselves, to greater or lesser degrees of outcry.
The TIFF Bell Lightbox
The surprising thing about this one is how widely accepted the name has become. (The name “Bell Lightbox” was being used in the media even before the tower at King and John streets, a combination condo high-rise and headquarters for the Toronto International Film Festival, was completed in 2010.) Bell earned the distinction by buying its way into “lead sponsor” status during the capital campaign that helped raise money for the building’s construction. For the wide adoption of the corporate-sponsored name, credit probably belongs to TIFF’s marketing department, which is notoriously adept at using the festival’s cachet to keep journalists in line.
Ridiculousness Rating: 6/10, because at least the whole “Bell” thing didn’t come about as a result of a sudden name change—it was always that way.
Rogers Centre
The single most notorious recent instance of corporate meddling with the name of a treasured Toronto institution came in 2005, when Rogers, still flying high after purchasing the SkyDome at a bargain price, announced that the stadium would be rechristened “Rogers Centre.” To this day, a vocal contingent of Torontonians refuses to use the new name.
Ridiculousness Rating: 10/10, because now there’s even a statue of Ted Rogers outside, for chrissake.
Daniels Spectrum
The Daniels Corporation, a major Toronto developer, has been leading the ongoing transformation of Regent Park virtually since the project’s inception. The Spectrum, an arts and cultural centre that is considered one of the redevelopment’s crown jewels, was built with a $4-million gift from Daniels and its associated charitable foundation, and now bears the company’s name.
Ridiculousness Rating: 1/10, because Daniels has invested a lot in the neighbourhood and has arguably earned bragging rights.
Harbourfront Centre
Harbourfront Centre itself isn’t named after anything, but many of its venues are. There’s the Natrel Rink, the WestJet Stage and so on. Omit the corporate names in any published material and you will get a note from someone at the Centre, politely asking you not to do that.
Ridiculousness Rating: 7/10, because even though Harbourfront Centre uses its sponsorship dollars to put on lots of great, free programming, compelling a whole city to keep up with a rotating roster of corporate alliances just isn’t cool.
Scotiabank
Toronto’s single most oppressive corporate sponsor deserves a category all its own. Let us recount the many things that now bear this bank’s name: the Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival (formerly Caribana), the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival, Scotiabank BuskerFest, and Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. Are we forgetting any? Probably.
Ridiculousness Rating: 7/10, because while Scotiabank’s corporate sponsorships are generous, there’s something almost compulsive about the company’s need to append its name to the title of everything it touches.
Yes, you did forget at least one major Scotiabank sponsorship: the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Too bad more companies aren’t this generous.
there’s something compulsive about a company wanting to get value out of a major sponsorship deal by crediting themselves where due? Geez Toronto Life, you guys are really hitting bottom lately. What gives?
What about the Scotiabank Theatre?
Could Toronto Life get anymore whiny?
More accurately, Scotiabank _prepends_ their name to things, not appends.
Toronto Life once had the naming rights to 10 Dundas St E–an awful building across from Dundas Square that’s plastered with billboards. It was called Toronto Life Square. The idea might have been that people would refer to Dundas Square as Toronto Life Square, but that didn’t take off. Good on Toronto Life for pulling the plug on that sponsorship. 10 Dundas should one day be redeveloped for a better building.
All this renaming of landmarks needs to stop – Toronto has no heritage nor identity. I am waiting for the day Canadian National Railways sells the CN Tower and the world famous icon of Toronto gets renamed the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Tower or the [Insert Name Here] Tower or some other such nonsense. Lok at SkyDome – world famous, named via contest – it got sold and renamed. It should be forbidden. Build something and register a name for it – that name lasts as long as the building stand – should be law.
Pantages Theatre, Winter Gardens, The O’Keefe Centre, The Elgin Theatre – some of these are heritage buildings with decades of history. All renamed – shameful.
Absolutely agree. This is the real issue. Toronto has become a disconnected city with no real pride or stance on preserving the history of important names and landmarks. Some of the comments here blames TorontoLife for being too whiny, which is the root cause of the lack of city ownership and pride. Fenway Park will ALWAYS be Fenway Park. Some say Americans have too much pride, maybe Toronto doesn’t have enough.
So true, I was born and raised here. I truly love my city and I am the first to come to the defence of it and its subsidiaries. namely the TTC and Toronto Hydro. (Two publicly built, and run institutions we should treasure not trash) I hate how so many people will trash Toronto, or willfully elect some incompatant half wit, government despising, never even liked Toronto prior to amalgamation, crack smoking, wife abusing, bigoted, homophobic, regressive and all around lier as the mayor.