Extra! We’re Hip!
CALL US RICH, SPOILED, HEDONISTIC, DYSFUNCTIONAL, SHALLOW.
Call us what you will. But call us something. Fox needs ratings, and Orange County needs all the free exposure it can get, especially since the OC Business Council won’t bite on my idea for a multimillion image campaign. So no matter how stereotypical it might be, maybe the new primetime soap that premiered last Tuesday, “The OC,” will be good for both the network and the county.
And Fox is being doubly helpful. Next up is a Ron Howard comedy that also is set in OC. The name tells you all you need to know about how that show will portray us: “Arrested Development.”
But sticks and stones raise awareness. The world finally is discovering Orange County. Just remember, you read it here first:
OC’s biggest export is style,a mix of creativity, energy and entrepreneurial risk-taking that transcends any particular industry segment. OC is a style center for software and surfwear and eyewear, for chips and cars, for medical instruments and financial instruments.
, Rick Reiff, in the Orange County Business Journal, May 22, 2000
Color Orange County the new capital of cool; Trendsetters draw businesses hotly seeking the next big thing They’re creating cool clothes trendy music best-selling cars new breeds of fast food cooler-than-cool shoes state-of-the-art sunglasses “Orange County is an open campus for the trend-hungry,” says Thom McElroy, president of McElroy: Foote Cone & Belding. “People worldwide come here to find out what’s hip.”
, Bruce Horovitz, in USA Today, Sept. 6, 2002
It’s been a breakout year for Orange County. First, there was a movie named after it. Then VH1 aired a special called “Orange County: America’s Hip Factory.” Now the Anaheim Angels are in the World Series. Could Orange County be,dare we say it,cool? “It’s just Orange County’s moment now,” says Brad Abramson, a supervising producer for VH1. “Dollar-wise, so much fashion, sports and music comes out of it.”
, Stephen Lynch, in the Orange County Register, Oct. 18, 2002
Suddenly, O.C. Leads the Hip Parade As last year’s teen comedy “Orange County” proclaimed: “It’s not just a place. It’s a state of mind.” Add all that to the success of Anaheim’s Angels and Mighty Ducks and the booming surf industry, hit bands like No Doubt and brands like Quiksilver and Orange County’s once-bland image is experiencing an unlikely transformation. It’s becoming hip.
, Kimi Yoshino, in the Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2003
