Houston: what's the point? The Texas city is most famous for the Bush family, big hair, and sippin on the sizzurp. At least that's the stereotype, and as a non-Houstonite, I don't care enough about the city to put in the effort to dispel that stereotype. But the city has anticipated this; they're rolling out an ad campaign designed to boost the city's reputation [NYT]. It's called "My Houston," and it features celebrities talking about what they like about the city. Unoriginal idea, Houston! Really now, are tourists going to flock to a hot, sprawling, asphalt-covered outpost in Texas just because racer A.J. Foyt fondly reminisces about speeding around its traffic-choked outer loop roads? In any major city, no matter how forlorn it is, you can find a handful of prominent citizens who will talk it up. They're called the rich. They'd get along pretty well anywhere—even Houston. Besides, why did the city go and spend a bunch of money on a new ad campaign when they could have just gone to YouTube and pulled off this perfectly adequate "Great Day Houston" rapping promo for free?

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