Miami Advice

Looks like the clever folks at Tourism Toronto have finally given up trying to brand our city by committee. They just recruited former Miami Visitors Bureau marketing chief David Whitaker—widely credited with putting the “sexy” back into the south Florida city and skyrocketing its yearly tourist visits to 11.5 million over his 17-year tenure—as their new chief booster. One of Whitaker’s recent ad campaigns featured bronzed, over-sexed models in candy-coloured clothing, apparently about to ravish each other. Now, when people think of Miami and its crown jewel, South Beach, they think hot: hot beaches, hot parties, hot bodies. In other words, it’s still vice, but with a little more Versace thrown in.

But how will Whitaker distill the decidedly un-hot city of Toronto into one cohesive, come-hither personality? In marketing terms, is prudish Toronto finally ready to show some skin? The $4-million “Toronto Unlimited” campaign was the graphic equivalent of a nun’s habit—drab and covering every angle. And the more recent “Live With Culture” ads (positioning the city as “nothing like Paris”) were twisted, but not in the right way. Maybe it’s time we threw political correctness out the window and did a little seducing of our own. Take it off, Toronto. Take it all off.­—Antonia Greene