Ferguson Hires Marketing Company to Give It New 'Brand Identity'

Ferguson was made famous in 2014 for reasons no city wants to be famous for. Five years later, city officials have hired a marketing firm to give the north county municipality a new "brand identity" — and this time, the contract is not a front for a pay-for-play bribery scheme benefiting disgraced former St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger.

Last week, of course, Stenger pleaded guilty to federal charges for a bribery scheme that involved, according to the indictment, "a consulting contract to purportedly provide marketing to address the negative publicity leftover from the Ferguson unrest following the shooting death of Michael Brown."

The six-month contract cost the St. Louis County Port Authority $130,000 for "no actual work," the indictment notes.

Matt Unrein, Ferguson's assistant city manager, tells Riverfront Times that the indictment was the first he'd even heard of the plot.

Read more: https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2019/05/10/ferguson-hires-marketing-company-to-give-it-new-brand-identity