"whatcha talkin 'bout willis?"

This morning I was reading about the upcoming name change of the Sears Tower. At first I was confused and thought it was a stupid joke but as I was perusing the Trib, I found this article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri-willis-tower-0313-mar13,0,1361480.story

I usually don't care too much about things like this but as I kept reading on about the company and why they are changing the name to Willis Towers...I kind of wanted to puke. It's true, I'm not the most loyal Chicagoan--I grew up in the burbs and went to college out-of-state. As I live here longer I appreciate it this city much more. This became obvious to me when I acknowledged my reaction to this whole situation.

One takeout from the article read:

"Would you rather have an iconic building with nobody in it, which doesn't say a lot about Chicago, or someone with enough faith to take the space?" he asked. "The headline should be: A company has decided to invest money in Chicago, and if you miss that headline, you've missed the side of the building by a mile and a half."

This guy, Joseph Pulmeri, Willis' CEO is a grade-A D-bag. Gawd. Why is it such a big freaking deal for them to even change the name in the first place? It's my belief that they'd get alot more business if they stayed with the name Sears Tower than Willis Towers. WTF? Why spend unnecessary money to change everything just so you can brand your stupid holding company.

"...in Chicago, say consumers and branding experts, it's just not that simple, because the city's attachment to the building is far more complex than recognizing its economic contribution. This is a city with a deep appreciation of tradition and a healthy ego, where some Chicagoans still mourn the switch from Marshall Fields's to Macy's."

Keep on trying Willis, but I think time will show that you can't change loyalty--no matter how hard you try.