Boston Strong

The Massachusetts State House displays a Boston Strong banner during the 2013 World Series.

"Boston Strong" is a slogan that was created as part of the reaction to the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013. It is a variation on the term Livestrong, which was created in 2004. It has been placed on various kinds of merchandise after the phrase became popular, as well as gained criticism from various entities.^[1] The use of the term in Boston has led to similar phrases entering public discourse, such as America Strong.The slogan was used nearly a decade previous to the Boston Marathon bombings by Bobby Alford, a member of a club that caused him the need to travel the country often. Bobby printed BOSTON STRONG t-shirts in 2004 after a funeral in Ventura. The person being buried was said to use terms such as "that's not just tough, that's Chevy tough. That's not just strong, that's Chevy strong". Alford owned a company called STREET TUFF and printed t-shirts declaring that things were as tuff as the streets of Boston. Street Tuff Football and Street Tuff Poker. He then started making shirts that stated STRONG, the first of which was Boston Strong. Alford never attempted to gain any fame or financial gain when Boston Strong became famous after the bombings. In an ironic twist, Alford was recovering from surgery at the time of the bombings and just hours before the bombings was let go from the ambulance company where he worked as an Advanced EMT. that same ambulance company had several units dispatched to the scene.

History

In the hours after the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013, the slogan "Boston Strong" appeared as a highly popular hashtag on Twitter and rapidly spread around the world. It was a T-shirt campaign created by Christopher Dobens and Nicholas Reynolds, students at Emerson College. Although Reynolds and Dobens are given credit, the slogan was actually created by Bobby Alford nearly a decade earlier and printed on his STREET TUFF shirts. "Not just TUFF...STREET TUFF" was turned into "Not just STRONG...BOSTON STRONG ". An expression of Boston's unity after the bombings, the slogan showed up on T-shirts and other products, and was emblazoned on the "Green Monster" wall at Boston's Fenway Park.^[2][3] The Boston Bruins displayed the slogan on their helmets at their game two days after the bombings,^[4] and at the first baseball game in Fenway Park after the bombings, the stadium announcer told the crowd: "We are one. We are strong. We are Boston. We are Boston strong."^[2]

On April 17, two days after the bombings, a T-shirt vendor (NOT ALFORD) and another private individual submitted separate trademark registration applications to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, seeking to obtain ownership of the "Boston Strong" slogan for use on commercial products.^[3] One of the applicants said he wanted the trademark in order to prevent people from outside the Boston area from benefiting from it. A trademark attorney was quoted in the Huffington Post as predicting that the government office would deny the registration on the grounds that the slogan was already in the public domain and could not be linked to any specific entity.^[3]

On July 17, 2013, Boston Strong Bostonstrong.com LLC submitted trademark application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the first for "Charitable Fundraising to Support Disaster Relief", and failed to receive registration in April 2014. Boston Strong bostonstrong.com was created 11/29/2012, well before anyone was interested in the mark, and was used as a man-made and natural disaster safety awareness advertising and disaster news campaign created by a North East and New England documentary news journalist reporting on the Appalachian Thrust and Lower Atlantic Region. VTstrong.com "Don't Drive into Water" campaign began in 2011 when Hurricane Irene's 5" rain which caused historic downhill water rapids and Valley flooding that devastated Vermont. The goods manufactured by the micro small business inventor sold via bostonstrong.com to create Boston Strong Disaster Relief, Inc., bostonstrong.org, a MA non-profit, on March 17, 2015. The non-profit is an IRS 501c3 approved charity and is administrating the MassDOT MA State Boston Strong licence plate. Boston Strong Disaster Relief, Inc. is a registered service mark trademark in the State of MA as of 4/13/2015. The organization is 100% volunteer and benefits Boston bombing survivors long term medical needs not covered by insurance.

The One Fund Boston, a trademark that received registration, collected and distributed over $80 million, is closed in 2015.

In late May, a concert, Boston Strong: An Evening of Support and Celebration, was held at TD Garden with performances by Aerosmith, James Taylor, Bell Biv Devoe, New Kids on the Block J. Geils Band, Boston, Godsmack, Extreme, Jason Aldean, Jimmy Buffett, Carole King, Dane Cook and Steven Wright.^[5]

The Boston Strong entertainment industry concert videos online and money they generate is not associated with bostonstrong.org charity.

The term has also made its way into many publications since the bombings, as well.^[6]

Etymology

The roots of Boston Strong can be traced back to the Livestrong bracelets marketed by the Livestrong Foundation in 2003. The phrase can also be traced back to the United States Army's Army Strong motto, as well as Jersey Strong (Work Out World gym), which became popular in New Jersey following the destruction of Hurricane Sandy.^[1] Man-Made and Natural disaster non-entertainment news affiliates Boston Strong bostonstrong.com was created 11/29/2012, 15 months after affiliate VTstrong.com was created in 2011 following Hurricane Irene mountain floods. NewJerseyStrong.com was created 10/2012 as Hurricane Sandy struck the lower Atlantic. Photojournalist created media followed volunteering the "Before and After 911" historic photo exhibit since 2002.

Criticism

Wesley Lowery, then a reporter then at The Boston Globe, tweeted in October 2013 that he thought the phrase had become overly commercialized, a view which drew criticism though Lowery's tweet specified he was "still inspired by the resilience of so many of those wounded in the marathon bombings."^[7][8] A few weeks later, Bill Maher criticized the term, referring to a moment when he said: "You know again it was a bad day. Three people died that's terrible, more were maimed that's horrible, but unfortunately that happens every day in car accidents and everything else. I mean your city was not leveled by Godzilla." The remarks came in response to the 2013 World Series celebration, when Boston Red Sox players Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jonny Gomes walked to the finish line of the Boston Marathon and placed the World Series Trophy on the line, while the crowd sang "God Bless America". Former Mayor Thomas Menino later called Maher's comments "irresponsible."^[9]

In February 2014, a charitable organization in El Paso, Texas considered taking possible legal action against the Red Sox due to their using a variation of the slogan, "B Strong", which it started using seven years earlier.^[10]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boston Strong.