I gots ur back, UA!
My Ode to Mr. Paul Robinson, President of the Federal Hill residential association (thank you to the Brain for giving me the inspiration to go old school with this post):
“Here’s to you, Mr. Robinson, We loath you more than you will ever know Whoa, whoa, whoa… What’s that you say, Mr. Robinson? Under Armor can’t paint until they pay? Hey, hey, hey”Okay, if you live anywhere within the greater Baltimore area, I’m sure that you’ve heard of the whole Under Armour/Fed Hill conflict. Under Armour painted a big logo on the side of the hill as a welcoming sign to visiting athletes in town for a volleyball tournament. A handfull of residents of Fed Hill complained (I think that it was somewhere in the area of 40 of the couple thousand of people who actually live there). The logo was painted with water based paint, and I’m sure would have been resolved with a good heavy rain or a grass mowing.
The main argument is that the residents felt that it was free advertising for the company, and since they didn’t get any money for it, then it was wrong.
First of all, the Parks department gave their blessing to UA for painting the logo. UA is a Baltimore company, they employ local workers, and they make a global product.
Personally, I have no issue with UA painting the logo on the Hill. After all, last year, the Baltimore Ravens had their logo painted on the side of the Hill, and I don’t recall any actions being taken against them. The argument of Fed Hill neighborhood association pres? Well, the Ravens aren’t “commercial’, unlike UA. Huh? A professional NFL team’s logo isn’t ‘commercial’? What rock have you been sleeping under, Mr. Paul Robinson? If anything, NFL football is the penultimate of marketing and advertising.
Did the Ravens organization pay to display their logo? Oh, it was a matter of city pride, you say? Really? And allowing one of the best known companies in the Baltimore Area paint a welcoming sign to out-of-town visitors isn’t city pride? Everytime I wear something with the UA logo, I feel pride for owning something made RIGHT HERE IN BALTIMORE. Oddly enough, I don’t own a single Raven’s item.
Besides, Mr. Robinson, just because you are the president of a neighborhood association that borders a landmark does not mean that you OR your neighborhood own said landmark. As far as I’m concerned, the city still owns Fed Hill, and if they want to let a corporation paint something on the side, it’s their business.
Get over yourselves, Fed Hill. If anything, your snipey attitude and bitching puts you on my ‘unlikeable’ list. Thanks for making it an easy decision to me to never move to Fed Hill. I’ll stay right here in Ridgely’s, where we don’t have to worry about the neighborhood association doing much more than meeting twice a month to get their drink on.
