Editor's note [UPDATED MAY 25, 2008]: Morris Pittle is owner of Two Ton advertising, which developed a branding campaign for the city of El Paso. The city is moving into the next phase for the campaign, and is seeking a company to carry it through. Pittle's company was one of those invited to make a presentation to the city. The following is an e-mail sent by Pittle to a number of El Pasoans Monday -- including to City Council members Susie Byrd and Beto O'Rourke, and to EP Media Group and NPT editors -- followed by an e-mail from Pittle to a number of El Pasoans on Tuesday.

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From: Morris Pittle [mailto:mpittle@twotoncreativity.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 12:15 AM
Subject: TWO TON NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!

Dearest Friends, Associates and Fellow El Pasoans,

A great task lies before us at Two Ton, and we are coming to you, our most trusted and valued friends to help us conquer this challenge and move forward in our ongoing quest to bring big ideas and generally cool stuff to El Paso.

You see, for the past year, we have had the honor of working with our city government to develop a unified and relevant brand identity to the city of El Paso. Based on all of our feedback, it has been met with great excitement, enthusiasm and approval.

In case you have not seen or heard, El Paso is from now on to be known as the “Capital of the Border” and here are links to the TV spots we produced to prove it:

http://www.elpasotexas.gov/econdev/TVSpots/CULTURE_06CVB339.2.mov
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/econdev/TVSpots/OUTDOORS_06CVB339.1.mov

Well, along the way, there were some naysayers who had issue with how our contract came to be:

http://www.americanobserver.org/archives/2007/september/27/pittle.html
http://www.jaimeoperez.com/archives/twotonmorrispittle.html

Well, I am not in prison, and aside from the j-walking ticket I received the other day, I am still in the good graces of the city. But nonetheless, a decision was made to put this particular business out for bid and see what the other kids on the court would do with our ball, and hopefully to clear all of our good names once and for all from the ankle biters who plague the system around here.

Their plan is to use all existing materials, they just want to see what everyone else has to say.

So this Wednesday, we’re all given 30 minutes to present to a panel and plead our case.

Here’s where I need your help.

My plan is to bring as many people who are connected to the Two Ton Universe and anyone who truly believes in El Paso and what that should mean to the entire world
to sit in on the presentation.

While listening, we will all enjoy a ideal El Paso picnic: Chicos Tacos! We will provide as many orders as are needed.

My message to the panel will be clear:

• We are El Paso and we are where it’s going.
• We will always be fresh, relevant and ahead of the curve, not chasing it for a change.
• We will look to be progressive and take advantage of our assets, mainly our culture every chance we get, and we will always embrace the big idea as long as it too is relevant.

If you can come and join us as we make our presentation, the point will hopefully be driven home. Please invite anyone you think understands and agrees with our philosophy and/or would like some Chico’s for lunch on Wednesday.

We are meeting here at Two Ton Headquarters at 11:30. From here, we will take our picnic and walk one block to city hall where we will all arrive together and descend on the large conference room (which I have covertly booked instead of the small conference room everyone else is using.)

The pitch starts precisely at 12:00 noon and will last for 30 minutes. Then there will be a 10 minute question and answer period.

Obviously, the concept depends on a large, diverse number of El Pasoans, but I do need to make a complete pitch, so I would only ask that you make time to stay at least through the presentation.

So please, either respond to this e-mail, or call us at 838-9444 ext. 10 and let us know by the end of the day Tuesday.

One final, humble request:

Another critical part of this plan is the element of surprise. It’s not easy to mobilize a large group of people to do anything here in El Paso without the proverbial grapevine finding out. So please keep this as confidential as possible. Be cautious who you forward this e-mail to as e-mails have a way of wandering into unfriendly computers.

Please note that the panel consists of Kathy Dodson, Victor Venegas, Pat Ablen, Bill Blaziek and Joyce Wilson. So please take care not to send this to them, or if at all possible, near them.

Thank you all for your friendship, confidence and support. Despite the up’s and down’s, I truly love living here and relish the chance to do the kind of work that can hopefully help make a difference. Each of you in your own way have been a part of making that happen.

Please try to come. If for nothing, we’ll eat Chico’s a have a good time.

So in the words of the great Mark Twain,

“A true pioneer takes a lot of arrows in the ass.”

Come join us as we put our asses in the arrows way.

-- Morris

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From: Morris Pittle [mailto:mpittle@twotoncreativity.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 10:57 PM
Subject: Re: TWO TON NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!

Well, today was an interesting day to be an El Pasoan.

The short of it is the e-mail that you received last night leaked to the city, and when they discovered our plans, I was informed that my presentation was canceled.

So no Chico’s!

And it looks as if Two Ton may relinquish the brand identity for the city due to what they think may be a disqualification resulting from my plan.

Please understand that I was trying to make a point that viral marketing works. Additionally, that guerilla marketing works.

I believe that everyone who I sent this e-mail to understands that we live in a competitive and complex world. Like you, I take my job very seriously and was striving to make a point that if we are to successfully brand El Paso and communicate to the rest of the country what we have to offer, it will have to be the result of progressive and aggressive ideas that as I mentioned, are ahead of the curve and not following after it.

But apparently, El Paso is not ready for this. At least not our city government.

I was informed not only that my presentation was cancelled, but that both Legal and Purchasing were researching whether or not I should be disqualified for inviting certain people into the process.

Please understand that it was specifically stated that this was an informal bid, and there were no specific criteria other then the time and place of the presentations.

Effectively, we have been canceled because we approached the challenge from a different perspective and were going to do something that was unconventional.

This is the legacy of El Paso. So next time the discussion of why it is so hard to get young people, or progressive thinking people to stay in El Paso, or to come back here, remember that this is how unconventional thinking is treated here.

Thank you for reading, and whether or not you were planning on coming, for at least being involved and having been a positive influence on our process.

I guess I owe each of you some Chico’s. So let me know when you’re hungry, and I’m buying.

Gracias,

Morris