This post by Steve Baird originally appeared on DuetsBlog, which was born out of the chasm that can divide legal and marketing types and seeks to facilitate collaborations among them.
Do you suppose that the Mall of America ever thought about its brand name being associated with a “roof collapse” when it signed on and paid for the naming rights at the aging Mall of America Field, the nearly thirty year old inflatable indoor venue “formerly known as” the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota?
Having seen this image, the above question may seem especially relevant now, given the sheer size and importance of the integrity of the roof at the actual Mall of America, a roof so large that:
I’m thinking that the Mall of America has some pretty impressive public relations and PR talent to have most roof collapse news stories referring to the Metrodome name, not Mall of America Field.
Perhaps unintentional subtlety, or a slavish distinction between a roof and field, but it appears the Metrodome name is being linked more closely with the roof collapse, and the Mall of America Field name is being associated with some harmless snow falling on the empty field, with this headline, as a good example: “Metrodome Roof Collapse Leaves Snow on Mall of America Field.”
I suspect this is a good example of one time when the Mall of America may be happy its naming right to the Metrodome hasn’t supplanted all use of or reference to the Metrodome:
We certainly can all be happy and thankful that the roof collapse didn’t occur during an event, and that no one was hurt during the collapse of the “Metrodome” roof.
Still, I’m left wondering whether the Vikings will be thankful for the roof collapse, especially if it ends up playing a role in obtaining a new home field for the team.
Losing the ability to host two home games in a disappointing and already losing season may be a very small price to pay for some new digs.
Thanks again to Steve Baird and DuetsBlog for allowing us to re-post this here.
