Civic group launches $4M campaign to boost embattled San Francisco ahead of global trade summit
San Francisco business leaders launched a new $4 million marketing campaign ahead of a global economic summit expected to bring tens of thousands of visitors to the embattled city
SAN FRANCISCO — A $4 million marketing campaign touting San Francisco's resilience, innovation and moxie launches Thursday as the embattled city prepares to host a high-profile global economic summit next month that could boost its image or pile on to its woes.
Business leaders behind the privately funded “It All Starts Here” campaign say they plan to blanket the city with billboards and ads featuring what makes San Francisco great — think the iPhone and Pixar Animation Studios — as tens of thousands converge on the city for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit.
President Joe Biden and other heads of state, hundreds of foreign journalists and more than 1,000 business executives from around the globe are expected to attend the summit Nov. 11 to 17.
“Birthplace of the waterbed. And the summer of love,” reads one ad. “The martini. The mai tai. And the Uber ride back home,” reads another. The campaign logo echoes the famous crisscross Haight and Ashbury street signs.
There's also a spirited two-minute video set to the song “California Dreamin'.” The video opens with fog and mountains, Pacific Ocean waves crashing into majestic cliffs and the Golden Gate Bridge before mixing in historic images of streetcars, beatniks, retailer Gap, Apple and Google. San Francisco is sandwiched between Silicon Valley and Northern California wine country.
The summit comes at a critical time for San Francisco's bruised image. While there are signs of recovery — an IKEA opened downtown — the city has been hit hard by news of major retailers leaving as
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