If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again—preferably with better lawyers and a slightly different name. The Port of Oakland just gave their airport drama a sequel, unanimously voting Thursday to rebrand Oakland International Airport as “Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport,” because apparently one courtroom beatdown from San Francisco wasn’t enough to kill their geographical aspirations.
The 7-0 vote by Port commissioners makes official what’s been Oakland’s worst-kept secret since June: they’re not giving up on borrowing San Francisco’s brand cachet, they’re just getting more creative about it. According to the Port, the new name goes into effect immediately, because why wait when you’ve already spent months in federal court over this?
The man behind this persistent rebranding campaign is Craig Simon, Oakland’s Director of Aviation, who’s been the public face of what can only be described as the Bay Area’s most expensive identity crisis. “We are proud to be a central gateway to the Bay Area, and we’re proud to embrace a name that reflects both our local roots and regional reach,” Simon said, somehow managing to keep a straight face while essentially saying ‘we’re Oakland, but also San Francisco, but mostly Oakland, but did we mention San Francisco?’
Round Two of the Bay Area Airport Wars
This latest naming attempt comes after Oakland’s first shot at geographical rebranding got shut down harder than a dive bar at 2 AM. As Hoodline reported, U.S. District Judge Thomas Hixson ruled in November that Oakland’s previous attempt—”San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport”—could cause “irreparable harm” by misleading travelers into thinking the two airports were affiliated…