Glasgow leaders look to rebrand city in attempt to shrug off drunken stereotype
Glasgow is attempting to rebrand itself as city officials look to shed the outdated stereotype of the drunken violent city often portrayed in soap operas and comedies.
Chief executive of the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Scott Taylor, has warned that he will make official complaints to stop the city being defamed by film-makers, authors and TV producers.
He is quoted by The Times as describing the stereotyping of Glaswegians as “a lazy approach and we will challenge it at every turn. It is disrespecting people on a massive scale.”
Taylor said that “it is worth challenging because, if you let it go, things will never change. We will openly display our anger. We will fight for this city.”
Taylor, who is responsible for a huge transformation of Glasgow’s image having introduced the city’s “caring and inclusive” new pink civic livery, says the stereotype originates from within the UK.
“Overseas, people are much more aware of the changes that the city has gone through. However, within the UK, you have programmes like Eastenders, where the villains are Glaswegians” said Taylor.
Glasgow City Council leader and former Labour cabinet member Frank McAveety echoed Taylor’s sentiments saying that “Glasgow has been transforming itself in recent years and has changed beyond recognition.”
Some creators who have adopted the negative portrayal of Glaswegian’s have countered Taylor’s claims. Ian Pattison, creator of Rab C Nesbitt, said “Rab spent 30 years openly displaying his anger and fighting both for, and in, this city. He was rewarded with ten series and six specials on network television that brought millions of pounds’ worth of London funding north to be spent, almost entirely on Scottish crews and home-based talent.”
The writer and playwright added: “Mr Taylor complains about negative stereotyping of Glaswegians, then promises that ‘we will openly display our anger, we will fight for this city’. I applaud his zeal.”