Should Florida try to rehab its image?
Already considered by many to be synonymous with dysfunction, the state was recently named the nation’s ‘worst.’ Should it fight back with PR fire, or just embrace the ire?
Culture and entertainment website Thrillist seems to think so, citing the beleaguered Sunshine State’s “staggeringly impressive awfulness resumé.”
Florida has, of course, struggled with:
That’s just a sampling of choice cuts of weirdness from the past year. The state battles more evergreen PR foibles such as crime, political graft, overcrowding, climate change concerns, alligator attacks and elder road rage, which the likes of Fark and Florida Man Twitter are always happy to highlight.
Why is Florida such a magnet for striking, if not downright outlandish, behaviors and occurrences? Tampa Bay Times reporter Craig Pittman attributes Florida’s inimitable brand of “manatee insanity” to its unique mixture of alluring warm weather, end-of-the-line geography, strange history and a dizzyingly diverse, transient population. Also, there are guns—lots of guns.
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