Rebranding America

I never really thought of a country as a brand, but it really is - I associate ideas and feelings with every country that I know of, culture-wise, lifestyle-wise and so on. Every country brings a certain personality trait, a certain hope and promise for a visitor or a potential resident. But what happens to the brand image of a country when calamity descends and changes public perception? Take, for instance, America. The country once prospered with limitless wealth and abundance in opportunities, but its economy is now in shambles. Did this great downturn bludgeon that robust, rosy perception? I do not have the answer for that, but it certainly warrants a closer inspection no? Paper Magazine pondered this question and decided to solicit leading designers to rebrand America. Here is an excerpt of the brief:

“As the times we are living in are so radical, I think radical ideas are needed to help save our proverbial asses and to create a new path forward into what I like to call the “new normal”. The best part of being in deep shit is that with it comes a unique opportunity for progressive thinking because the status quo is desperate. I thought it appropriate to dedicate the issue to home, and so the subject of one piece I am producing is about our homeland: The U.S. of A. I… invite you all to create a visual page - as if it was an ad - for America. How would you rebrand America? How would you make people love us again? How would you change our brand image? Our perception abroad? How could you project our future to our citizens? If America had a new ad campaign, what would it look like?”

Here is my favourite response, created by Dan Wieden of Wieden + Kennedy 12.:

There are lots of other compelling responses over at Paper Magazine.