Orange County Supervisors are thinking about renaming John Wayne Airport. They want to call it “The O.C. Airport” as a tie-in to the one-year-old, hit Fox show.
It’s got cache,” Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby said. “It’s concise.”
From a practical standpoint, Norby and other county boosters say “The O.C.” has name recognition and is more identifiable than Orange County Airport, John Wayne Airport or SNA, the federal designation for what was once Santa Ana Airport.
Roger Faubel, a board member of Arts Orange County, a group that promotes arts in the county, says he supports Norby’s plan and is already working on a logo with the new airport name.
“We’re going to explore that branding and see if it resonates,” Faubel said. “It’s an idea. If it gets legs, great.”
I am not making this up…it was reported in this morning’s Los Angeles Times.
So what’s next, renaming Newark Airport “Sopranos International Airport?” McCarren Airport in Las Vegas “C.S.I.X?” I got an idea — half the bodies in the three “Law and Order” shows are found in Central Park, why not rename it “Law & Order Park?” Maybe Dick Wolf will make his fifth series about Park Police, and the branding will come full circle!
Television audiences are notoriously fickle… and tastes change fast. “The O.C.” may not be on the air two years from now. What will Orange County do then… name the airport after whatever series happens to be a hit that season?
You know, I was thinking about that the other day before going through security at Les Nesman International Airport. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if they renamed Cleveland-Hopkins Airport to Drew Carey Certain Ethnic International Airport? We could honor both Drew Carey and Ernie Anderson in the same name.”