Can New York City market its way to another recovery?

One of the most memorable marketing campaigns is not for a sedan or a soft drink but for a city. This past summer, on the Q train back from Coney Island, a family of six could be spotted riding back from the beach sporting the campaign’s famous logo on tank tops and baseball caps—a nod to its forty-four years of longevity. The “I Love New York” campaign is credited to the work of Jane Maas and Mary Wells Lawrence, each a pioneer for women in advertising. It was commissioned in 1977 by the New York State Department of Commerce to promote tourism for its largest city that had been on the verge of bankruptcy and needed a little reputation reset and a lot of optimism.