Let the Good Times Roll
A recent Ad Age article announced an effort to re-brand New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebration as “clean and wholesome.” The goal is to position Mardi Gras as offering more than drunkenness and debauchery. Those involved with the effort say that in addition to the more well known aspects of the celebration, Mardi Gras actually offers family-friendly activities such as parades and great food.

Of course New Orleans is a great city. It’s got history, architecture, culture, sports, cuisine, events and more. But aren’t those the same things that make Mardi Gras so FANTASTIC in the first place?! People come to Mardi Gras to party…to let go…to go crazy…in an amazing city. Mardi Gras is New Orleans’ crown jewel. It’s the city’s time to shine, to show the rest of the world what New Orleans is really made of, and what makes it so special. Mardi Gras is a hugely successful event for the city of New Orleans. According to the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, an economic impact study revealed that Mardi Gras generates more than $840 million each year!!

Why would you try to change people’s perception of the event that has made the city of New Orleans into what it is today? The City of Fort Lauderdale made the same mistake way back in 1985 and is STILL paying for it today! Fort Lauderdale was one of the country’s biggest Spring Break destinations in the 80’s. Residents caused such a stink that the local government passed laws restricting wild parties; this happened around the same time that the state of Florida raised the drinking age to 21. As a result, the number of college students that spent Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale each year dropped from 350,000 to 20,000 by 1989. The city eventually realized what a horrible mistake it had made: bars and restaurants suffered, hotels suffered, even retailers suffered. Even though restrictive laws have been eased, Fort Lauderdale still hasn’t returned to the booming Spring Break destination it once was. And who knows how much revenue was lost along the way?

New Orleans should learn from Fort Lauderdale’s mistake. Embrace what gives you character. Embrace what makes you different. Instead of trying to convince people that Mardi Gras is “clean and wholesome,” why not show them that New Orleans embodies the spirit of Mardi Gras 365 days a year? Why not tell them that the same atmosphere of excitement and freedom that attracts more than a million people to Mardi Gras each year is what makes the city so spectacular every single day? The spirit of Mardi Gras is the heart of the city itself. Can you imagine what would happen if you could tap into just a fraction of that success during the rest of the year? That would be a success worth celebrating.

LINKS:
Ad Age – “Let the Chaste Times Roll at Mardi Gras”