Meet your second mother: Bogotá’s image makeover campaign continues

The Mayor’s office down here rolled out the second phase of its “Te Amo Bogotá” image makeover campaign recently and I have to say, it’s ambitious. The first phase (at least I think it was the first) saw the city acknowledging its role as home for people from throughout the country – a big step, given Bogotános’ somewhat justified reputation for aloofness.

Say nice things about me

Now, having welcomed Colombians from places beyond the Distrito Capital, the Mayor’s office is encouraging them to think better of their adopted home, and, further, to say nice things about it.

This, too, is a big step. Doubtless, there are many people (myself among them) who do enjoy living here and take advantage of many of the attractions the city has to offer.

On the other hand, a large percentage of the city’s residents are internally displaced victims of the conflict and are not here by choice. Their living conditions are incredibly poor and everyday life is a struggle.

Yet the campaign goal is obviously for residents to form some kind of personal relationship with this stubbornly impersonal city. The headlines lean heavily on emotionally charged words and phrases aimed at portraying Bogotá as a dynamic city of opportunity and, perhaps most ambitious, compassion.

Justify my love?

Some of this is justifiable – a newfound entrepreneurial spirit is injecting new skills and ideas into the city in the form of art galleries, cafes, and fashion. Yet class distinctions and economic disparity still color nearly every facet of daily life in this city. To ask an empleada to be a civic booster after a three-hour bus ride home, or to ask anyone hit by the recent garbage strike to consider the city their second mother, may be a bridge too far.

Or a bridge too far?

Whether Bogotános can move past their regional identities and rise above their mutual suspicion to embrace a shared civic identity will remain an open question. Colombians hold their politicians in an extremely low regard and public attitudes here are remarkably resistant to change. Trust among each other is in short supply. And tactically speaking, there’s no guarantee people will look up from their phones long enough to consider the message.

Still, with the increased international exposure the city is now enjoying and the upside of all those new tourist dollars, I can’t help but commend its leaders for trying.

I believe in you because you believe in me.

Because you open doors for me, and also desires.

I promise to speak well of you.

For making your sunset my new dawn.

For being my second mother.