Image change as a brand using the example of Dallas: in the shadow of JR Ewing?

The city of Dallas would like to shed the old cowboy and oil image. But the TV series that made the city famous worldwide is also an important economic factor for the city. May be the new edition of the series by the city with a lot Money is supported, that change?

No one lays down with JR!

Dallas - the series communicates like no other the image of the American dream, of money and power. Just like JR Ewing allias Larry Hagman. The actor came from nearby Fort Worth and was well known to the old oil families of Dallas, the Joiners, Crows and Hunts, who still have much influence in the city today. At the same time, Hagmann also acted as brand ambassador for the city.

Robin Hardy, driver at the limousine service Premier Transportation, once drove him around the area with his wife Linda Gray for a day: "The two were really like an old couple," he says with a laugh. He didn't need a bodyguard: “Nobody messes with JR!” The joke shows how much series and truth lie together.

The Southfork Ranch - between film and reality

The Southfork Ranch is little disappointing: the Ewing house is actually much smaller than it is on TV, the driveway is looped for the screen to be longer act, and the pool is actually more like a bathtub. "That's when you see how much fake it is," reports Joan Manganello, who has been showing tourists around here since 1995.

The house originally belonged to farmer JR Duncan, who owned it in the 80s because of the popularity of the series merchandise had to. Since then, the ranch has been a magnet for tourists from all over Welt - with merchandising shop, museum, tourist train and conference center.

Who shot JR?

Today, however, the film people are there. And the actors are wearing cowboy hats! It's been shooting here for two years - the new episodes of the series that have just started in Germany. In the US, they are already in season two and correspondingly great is the enthusiasm - especially of the female staff for the new, young male lead actor Josh Henderson, who also aptly comes from Dallas and plays the son of JR.

JR's funeral is on the schedule in a few weeks, but how he'll be removed from the show after the death of Larry Hagmann is a mystery even the Employees met at the ranch. The old Marketing-phrase “Who shot JR?” is back in the room.

Dallas is the location of the new series

Not only in the series, but also in reality, the old warhorses have the scepter to the Boy Handed down from generation to generation: The old series from the 80s was mostly shot in California, only the exterior shots were shot in Dallas, Bre Peterson explains to me.

"The new series, on the other hand, is being shot entirely in and around Dallas, where the city also plays a major role." From the point of view of those responsible for tourism, she probably also likes the new series better because it presents Dallas much better.

TV series as an economic factor

Because the series is a real economic factor for the region: The Southfork Ranch alone has 300.000 visitors a year - and the number of visitors in the last year since the new series was broadcast clear increased, tell me SalesManager Sally Peavy.

The leading actors have long since had houses in Dallas, and the bit actors are recruited from the region anyway. Each episode brings in $2,9 million to the city and region through merch, hotels, and restaurants—and Taxes.

A campaign for JR's return

But it's not for nothing: When it became known that Private TNT was planning a new edition of the series, there was a regular campaign to get Dallas to Dallas, as driver Robin Hardy tells me.

The city of Dallas is paying $200.000 for each season of the series, according to journalist Robert Wilonsky on dallasnews.com. And he calculated exactly how much the city is investing, how much it hopes to get for it - and how hard it is fighting for every dollar, because whatever the Anxiety exists, the series could, as before, be continued elsewhere.

There is also a piece of truth in every cliché

No wonder, then, that you do not really know how to deal with the hate-like stereotype. Apparently, the city, together with the series, has managed to make the transition to a younger, more modern image without breaking with tradition.

However, that the cliché of oil magnates and cowboy hats will continue to live in this way for a while in the minds of those responsible for tourism. There is a piece of truth in every cliché. A difficult balancing act.

Dallas - a piece of cultural history

Almost everyone, at least if they are over 30 and from West Germany, has a smile on their faces when I tell them that I will visit the Southfork Ranch. "Greet the spirit of JR," someone tells me, alluding to Larry Hagman's death last fall.

This shows across all layers, how much the TV series about the Texas oil baron is a piece of cultural history - and how formative for our image Dallas.

No one is wearing cowboy hats!

For Dallas itself, with over 1,2 million inhabitants after all, the ninth largest city in the US, but the series is more of a burden, says Bre Peterson from the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Bre is in her mid-20s and didn't see the show's heyday. For her, Dallas is simply a city where you can live well: “The oil industry is no longer as important as others Industries, nobody wears cowboy hats except JR and we have a lot of culture here too,” she says, pointing out that the city will also be promoting the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination this year.

14 billion dollars were invested

You want to believe her. After all, $ 14 billion was invested in the city - including the construction of a 275-square-kilometer arts district with museums and theaters. The Perot Museum opened in December alone cost $ 185 million. 26 million visitors come to the city each year, most of them for business purposes.

The money comes not only from public, but also from private Hand. “In development”, as the press material generously summarizes. A $5 million marketing campaign was launched in the fall. While Dallas has more alternative corners like the Bishop Arts District, the city shows theirs wealth practically on. And the clichés practically jump out at you.

Join the old and the new Texas

In the newly opened restaurant Stampede 66, owner Stephan Pyles, described by the New York Times as a genius of the kitchen, wants to combine old and new Texas. You can see that from the wire-horse heads that are hung up for decoration.

For him, going from table to table and visiting the guests in person is a good form: “I grew up in a truck stop in West Texas and wanted to reflect this atmosphere in my restaurantspiegeln, ”he tells me. The food is basically Texan, but on a slightly higher level, he explains his success Concept.

The American Dream: From Taxidermy to Millionaire?

My Ethiopian taxi driver is also living the American dream here: Before he came three months ago because of his Ms. came to Dallas, he lived in Frankfurt am Main for four years. Now he lacks the German cosiness: "Everything goes much faster here than in regulated Germany - but not necessarily better," he says.

He got his taxi license in just 4 days - impossible in Germany. Finding the destination with the navigation device therefore doesn't really work yet, he has to ask a colleague for directions, but his personal one Objective is already clear: “If you are clever, you can here fast make a lot of money!”

Just like JR Ewing, who, together with Dallas, is an important economic factor for the city. And so it will be in the second part.

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