There's something about the name TRUMP. A name that inspires thoughts of unapologetic wealth and power that we are all inspired by and attracted to. That may be changing with Donald Trump's presidential run, which has seen him catapulted to the top by being unapologetically ignorant.
The owners of TRUMP Tower in Toronto (TALON International, owned by Val & Inna Levitan and Russian-Canadian billionaire Alex Schneider) are sensing that and want to change the name...and it's not gonna happen without a fight.
Now, my history with the building goes back to it's opening year, when I did the launch party for it's Wednesday evenings. We had over a 1000 people show up, some of Toronto's best and brightest lined up for hours to get inside.
I was personally hired by the Levitan's to launch the evening and I remember when asked what we should name the night responding..."What else? TRUMP Wednesdays!".
I was more recently caught up in this latest turn of events when I signed on to produce the Black & White Ball at the TRUMP tower by INK Entertainment. This was around the time when he first called for an out and out ban of "Muslims" from entering the United States and boy did I hear about it from alot of people, with some even calling for me to drop the event.
Now, despite the controversy, the event was a success and I even had the pleasure of hosting Nickleback's Chad Kreuger at the event (and boy, what an after party!).
The party went on, because I was too far down the road to turn back on it, despite my obvious disgust with him and what he was saying. I also knew that cancelling the event wouldn't do anything close to "Sending a message by hitting him where it hurts" because he made no direct money from the tower other than his management fees. It would actually damage me alot more financially to pull out of a "minor" event (to them).
Also on a larger scale, Donald Trump in my view wasn't the problem. The millions and millions of people that thought enough like him and were intent on voting for him were.
With that being said, good on the Levitan's and Alex Schneider for looking into distancing themselves from Trump at the TRUMP now that they have a chance.
KB