“Big Friendly” is a trademarked (March 2007) nickname for Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The nickname appears similar to the Big Apple (New York City) and the Big Easy (New Orleans).
 
The “Big Friendly” nickname was thought up by civic booster Lee Allan Smith and promoted by advertising company executive Ray Ackerman.
   
 
Wikipedia: Oklahoma City 
Oklahoma City is the capital of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city is the 30th largest in the U.S. The city’s estimated population as of 2006 was 537,734, with a 2006 estimated population of 1,192,989 in the metropolitan area. In 2007, the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical Area had a population of 1,262,027 residents. Founded during the Land Run of 1889, Oklahoma City was the site of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995, the largest act of terrorism on American soil prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks and the most destructive act of domestic terrorism in American history. 
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Nickname: OKC, “The Big Friendly”
 
2 January 2007, Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK), “Oklahoma float takes prize at Rose Parade” by Penny Cockerell:
Let’s make Oklahoma the Big Friendly. Senge worked to combine that message with the parade theme of “Our Good Nature” and choreographed a cheerful routine ...
   
The McCarville Report Online
Sunday, April 08, 2007
‘The Big Friendly’
Longtime Oklahoma City civic booster and advertising company executive Ray Ackerman is out today with the suggestion that Oklahoma City’s new slogan be, “The Big Friendly.”
 
Ackerman writes in The Oklahoman that another longtime civic booster, Lee Allan Smith, actually came up with the slogan and used it on some New York and California officials in New York and, “They loved it.”
 
Ackerman says the slogan plays to Oklahoma City’s strength, the friendliness of its citizens: “Hardly a week goes by that The Oklahoman doesn’t print something from a recent visitor talking about a super-friendly experience they had while visiting here. Friendly people are important to those selecting a location for a new plant, a city for a convention or a destination for a vacation.”
   
OKC Talk
metro
04-27-2007, 09:07 AM
OKC the Big Friendly??
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With ‘easy,’ ‘apple’ taken, city seeks ‘Big Friendly’
By Steve Lackmeyer
Business Writer
 
Appearing before a gathering hosted by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, Centennial Commission director Blake Wade said Thursday his office has applied for a trademark for “the Big Friendly” just in case Oklahoma City might want it as a catchphrase.
“I really like to think of that ‘Big Friendly’ as an opportunity our fathers might want to look at — is Oklahoma City a friendly city?” Wade said. “And I think absolutely it is.”
 
Wade presented a slideshow of Centennial-sponsored projects completed since the commission was formed in 1999. In Oklahoma City alone, they include the Capitol dome, the Oklahoma History Center, the United Way fountain and plaza in Lower Bricktown, clocks throughout the metro area and several downtown murals. Coming up: the American Indian Cultural Center, Jim Thorpe sports hall of fame, completion of the Land Run Monument, and the Oklahoma Heritage Association’s new museum in the Mid-Continent Life Insurance building.
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Among those listening to Wade’s pitch was veteran Oklahoma City ad man and civic booster Ray Ackerman, who applauded the possibility of trademarking “the Big Friendly” — an idea thought up by fellow civic booster Lee Allan Smith.
 
“I wish it were my idea — it’s Lee Allan Smith’s idea,” Ackerman said. “I can’t think of anything better for Oklahoma City. The people who don’t think it’s so good say ‘Everybody thinks they’re friendly.’ Well that’s what makes it so good for us to get it trademarked.”
 
Adam Knapp’s Oklahoma City Blog
OKC… “The Big Friendly”?
Sunday May 6, 2007
Many of us in OKC have said for some time that the success of the Hornets and the growth in Bricktown offer us a unique opportunity for promotion, a chance to rise to the next level of metropolitan areas. In fact, I mentioned marketing and tourism as one of our key goals for the new year.
 
Well, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber’s Blake Wade is making a push in that direction, emphasizing the residents’ noted virtues of kindness and likability with the proposal of a new OKC nickname, “The Big Friendly.” With Centennial events galore in our immediate future, this could be a genuine opportunity to really get the word out.
 
So, what do you think of the nickname? Is this the brand we want as we continue a renaissance in the metro?
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark OKLAHOMA CITY - THE BIG FRIENDLY
Goods and Services IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Organizing community sporting and cultural events and festivals featuring a variety of activities, namely, sporting events, art exhibitions, flea markets, ethnic dances, parades and the like for promoting Oklahoma, and its centennial celebration
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 77138467
Filing Date March 23, 2007
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition April 8, 2008
Owner (APPLICANT) Oklahoma Centennial Commemoration Fund, Inc. NON-PROFIT CORPORATION OKLAHOMA 133 West Main Street, Suite 100 Oklahoma City OKLAHOMA 73102
Attorney of Record Anthony L. Rahhal
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “OKLAHOMA CITY” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE