I (Blank) New York: Iconic Campaign Gives Its Heart Away

The “I Love NY” advertising campaign in the mid-‘70s was one of the most memorable of all time and certainly ranks up there at the top as far as tourism promotions go. But it’s been more than three decades now and the logo (by ad legend Milt Glaser, who reinterpreted it for JetBlue), tagline and accompanying song are pretty well lodged into the collective cultural consciousness.

So whatcha gonna do? Change it up, natch. New York State has taken the heart (but not the love) out of the logo for its "Follow Your Heart" summer campaign and replaced it with user-submitted symbols and images of things to do around the state.

The goal is to have visitors not just think (or visit) the Big Apple — a smart move for a place branding campaign that is so often mistaken as an image campaign for New York City instead of New York State.

The heart has been replaced by such items as a beach ball, pizza slice, the tragedy and comedy masks. The TV commercials to go with the effort showcase people’s sketches of what they love about New York in the spot where the heart once was, and some of them “come to life,” such as the horse and jockey morphing into a race at Saratoga Springs.

According to the Huffington Post, the $5 million ad campaign aims to reclaim the positioning, and notes “New York ranks third in size of tourist economies behind Florida and California” and will welcome an estimated 51 million visitors this year, accounting for $34 billion in revenue.

“This campaign reinvents one of our state's greatest assets... which is known the world over as one of the most successful advertising symbols ever,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo. “There is no state that has anything over on the state of New York.”

Not everyone's convinced — the Queens Courier, for one, calls it "heartless." Your thoughts?