Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Stay in touch
Sign up for The Flyover newsletter
You Did It: Public Mockery Sends "Leave a Future" to Early Grave
When one trips over one's own dick in spectacular fashion, the correct recourse is humble contrition (or, ya know, silence). Not so at the University of Minnesota, where this week departments were alerted that "Leave a Future"—the widely mocked would-be new university tagline—won't have a future after all.
But it's not the fault of an achingly stupid turn of phrase and the unfortunate hordes of marketers who ginned it up, you see. No, no, no—Occam's razor has no place within the U's messaging apparatus. Here, via an internal email shared with Racket, is U of M VP of Communications Chris Gade explaining the elimination of Leave a Future:
While extensive research indicates that the sentiment behind the Leave a Future tagline resonates with a broad array of stakeholders, the words themselves—released prematurely and without context—have become a topic of negative conversation. Stated plainly, the tagline "debate" has become a distraction from successfully communicating the brand promise both internally and externally. Instead of introducing Leave a Future as a tagline as part of the brand rollout, we will integrate its sentiment into creative assets and content. We will not introduce a new University tagline as part of the brand rollout later this year. Our focus will remain on promotion of the University Brand promise in ways that connect with and inspire engagement with our faculty, staff, students, alumni, retirees and best illustrate our commitment to Minnesota, the nation and world.
Ah yes, of course, the public was simply not ready for the tagline that it met with widespread ridicule. And you know the ol' ad man adage about slogans: The best ones require specific contexts and hand-holding explanations. Cue the Skinner meme! A blog trumpeting the arrival of Leave a Future has been scrubbed from the U's website. Ditto for a YouTube video featuring the brains behind it explaining its many virtues.
The demise of Leave a Future won't put the kibosh on the U of M's big, ballyhooed rebrand, however. Gade's email directs folks to drink in this stroke of marketing wizardry...
At this point, we pray you're asking yourself: Tuition is skyrocketing... how much money is getting burned through by this crew of Temu Don Drapers?
"The brand rollout represents a small portion of the overall $15 million" contract the U of M inked in 2024 with local marketing firm Rise and Shine, a university spokesperson tells Racket, and that sum is "not tied to the tagline or to the color consistency." The spokesperson wouldn't share the total cost of the (now very subtle) rebrand effort.
In the meantime, the ain't broke/don't fix tagline of Driven to Discover, a U of M chestnut for two decades, trudges into the future undeterred.
Andrea Pedro-Francisco Freed
For months, Minnesota's Andrea Pedro-Francisco has been trapped in a Texas detention center, suffering tremendous pain from a nearly tennis ball-sized cyst on her ovary. The Minnesota Reformer's Max Nesterak has been on top of this story since March, and on Thursday, he got to publish an unexpected update: The 23-year-old has been released and is returning to Minnesota.
Pedro-Francisco's May request for humanitarian parole was denied, so her Wednesday release came as a surprise to nearly everyone—including Pedro-Francisco.
“It was a shock,” she shared with the Reformer. “Suddenly ICE told me that today I was going to be released, and I asked them why, where am I going? They told me I was going home.”
U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (DFL-MN) has been advocating for Pedro-Francisco's release, but Nesterak reports that it was U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (DFL-MN) who secured her release after calling "a top DHS official."
In a just, fair, non-monstrous society, Pedro-Francisco would have been able to get the life-saving medical care she needed back in February. But this is America; at least she'll be able to get that care now.
Neighbors Expected to Help Pay for George Floyd Square Reno
When the streets and sidewalks of your neighborhood need resurfacing, some of the cost is reflected in your property tax. But how much should residents be responsible for when an area needs renovation due to an exceptional moment in history?
That’s one of the many dilemmas the city is grappling with in the effort to overhaul George Floyd Square and the streets nearby. Some construction is set to begin on Monday, with work on the actual intersection sometime next year, but until recently neighbors were unaware they’d be footing $636,000 of the $15 million bill.
“Now we’re being asked to fund our own gentrification and displacement,” CANDO co-executive director Mickella Rolfes tells Deena Winter for the Star Tribune. “How many times will this community be forced to pay for the harms of the city?”
“We’re living inside The Wire and New Jack City,” says Agape Movement spokesperson Bridgette Stewart. “Stop playing with us. Stop holding us hostage. We deserve more.” (Depending on how things play out between Mayor Jacob Frey and Minneapolis City Council, Agape may or may not be in charge of the renovation of the corner of 38th & Chicago.)
The Goldfish Are Taking Over!
“All of the sudden, kaboom,” says Andrew Dickhart, the aquatic invasive species program coordinator for Carver County. What’s he talking about? Apparently folks through the Twin Cities have been emptying their aquariums into our waterways and now those shiny little fuckers are taking over.
An invasive species, the goldfish crowd out local fish, uproot vegetation, and cloud the waters. “It takes just a few pet releases to really do a lot of damage on a local water or lake system that is enjoyed by a lot of people,” Dickhart tells the Star Tribune's Eleanor Hildebrandt, who writes about the methods used to discourage people from unleashing their monstrous aquatic pets on the wild.
