By Marlys Fox
Non-Chicagoans: Ever wonder why dealing with Chicagoans seems to take on a life of its own?
We’ll address that with you today—and feel free to chime in with your own thoughts (send back to mfox@foxrep.com). For the moment, here are some thoughts for fun and some thoughts in deep seriousness tied to a Chicago Icon.
Here goes: No, we do not put ketchup on hot dogs. We feel it is a sin, but we aren’t quite sure why. We do, in fact, put fresh tomatoes on our dogs, and of course we put mustard on as well, along with a whole bunch of other good stuff. And of course, we do not drink soda here, we drink pop! I mean really. Come on! So anyway, come to Chicago, call me, and we’ll go for some dogs and pop together and I think I can prove to you that they’re perfect that way!
No, we don’t call it the Willis Tower. We call it the Sears Tower. We don’t care who owns it or who pays for the lighted sign. We’re not exactly sure why. But we like it that way. Ya got a problem with that?
Marlys Fox.
Now, I think most of you know that the Fox Associates headquarters is in Chicago (though we are also located in New York, Detroit, and Los Angeles). The Chicago Attitude probably comes across when we interact for business from all of our locations. We hope and trust that it’s workable for you, because we really do want to do some business with you. And if you chose this industry of media, as we did, then we’re pretty sure you’re as tough as we are, and can deal with us!
Now for the more serious thoughts on the same subject: Earlier this month, Chicago lost because Mike Ditka died. Mike was Da Coach of Da Bears. Da Foxes are as devastated as every other Chicagoan.
Now I’m quoting from a Paul Sullivan article in the Chicago Tribune: “To pigeonhole Mike Ditka as one of the great sports figures in Chicago history would be an injustice to his legacy. To many he was the living, breathing image of Chicago, as much a part of our storied history as Mrs. O’Leary, Al Capone, the Water Tower, Muddy Waters, Mayor Richard J. Daley, Michael Jordan, and Tom Skilling.
Ditka was everything we like to think we are as Chicagoans—tough, funny, mischievous, outspoken, hardworking and fun-loving. And he was sometimes everything we don’t often admit to being—stubborn, loud-mouthed, off-color, oversensitive and occasionally rude. He wasn’t perfect, but he was perfectly imperfect and Chicago loved him because he was Da Coach, and that is all that really mattered.”
That says it all: Mike Ditka liked to win, and so do we all!