Well, one thing you conclude watching the PR extravaganza that is “Atlanta: A Visual Postcard,” is that everyone had really long attention spans back in the day. Who’d sit through fifteen minutes of chamber of commerce fluff today? Yeah, I thought so.
That said, it’s worth your time to invest a quarter-hour watching these videos (two parts on YouTube). You’ll grasp the unabashed boosterism of our fair city the 1980s as a lispy spokesmodel in giant shoulder pads tours the then newly-revamped Underground Atlanta and “gleaming” Peachtree Center Mall. Despite groaning at the cheesy jazz-fusion background music, I have to admit to experiencing a twinge of nostalgia when the tour cruised by the downtown Macy’s and still-scruffy Midtown.
For a more thoughtful and critical analysis of the videos, read this commentary by Mark Byrnes over at Atlantic Cities.
Part two of the video can be found here.
