![There's more than handbags being knocked off on the streets of Soho. The "I [heart] New York" logo is trademarked by the state, and brings in licensing revenue..](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bdfc162/2147483647/strip/true/crop/640x428+0+0/resize/840x562!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Finnovationtrail%2Ffiles%2F201102%2Fny_woicik.jpg)
Jan Chesterton calls it “I red heart New York.”
That’s because the red color is what sets the well known "I heart New York" logo apart as a marketing trademark, which the state actually licenses to make money.
The New York Hospitality & Tourism Association’s Chesterton appeared in Albany this Valentine’s Day to talk about the “I heart New York” campaign, and to advocate for committing more economic development dollars to showing the Empire State some love.
Chesterton wants up to a million dollars of licensing revenue to be added to the state’s $7.4 million budget for tourism marketing.
"Sponsorship or revenues from the selling of that brand, it only makes sense [for them to] go back into the marketing fund from which [the logo] was created."
Chesterton's association estimated that tourism generated $7 billion in tax revenue in 2008 and that visitors spent $53 billion across the state during their stay.
The logo itself was designed pro bono by the ad firm of Wells Rich Greene during a time when it was harder to love New York: the 1970s. Its creator, Milton Glaser, has this insight to share in an interview with Chip Kidd at The Believer:
MG: Well, that logo has an odd characteristic by now, that it doesn’t look like anybody designed it. CK: No. Exactly. MG: It looks like a weird historical thing. CK: The design itself is invisible. MG: Yes. Basically, you don’t have a concept, “Oh, this is something that was designed.” It just seems so… I guess, inevitable. And the best sort of things you do look inevitable, I suppose.
The state however, disagrees, and has filed countless suits to protect the trademark, disputing everything from merch ripoffs of the original to knockoffs like "I ♥" SF.
