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Topeka, Kansas Becomes 'Google, Kansas' for a Month

by Amar Toor on March 2, 2010 at 09:45 AM

If you search for "Google" on Google Maps, you'll find a lot of dots around San Francisco and other parts of the world. You won't, however, find many in Kansas. All that's about to change, though, thanks to a radical move from one Kansan mayor.

Bill Bunten, the mayor of Topeka, Kansas, has signed a proclamation that officially changes the city's name to Google... for the month of March, at least. As the Topeka Capital-Journal reports, the zany move comes as part of the city's campaign to convince Google to conduct its new, super fast fiber-optics network there. City party pooper attorney Jackie Williams tried raining on Bunten's parade by pointing out that Topeka legally can't change its name on a temporary basis. After seeing the crestfallen looks on the council members' faces, though, he acknowledged that there's technically no problem with Bunten asking for the city to be referred to as Google. Party on.

Topeka, interestingly enough, actually has a precedent for changing its name on a pop cultural whim; back in 1998, then-mayor Joan Wagnon changed the city's name to "ToPikachu" in honor of the Pokémon national franchise that launched there. Sure, the whole thing reeked of kitsch, but it seems to have garnered the publicity it was after, which only bodes well for the city's Google chances. But why stop at Google? Let's see this thing snowball into a nationwide phenomenon. Facebook, Florida. MySpace, Missouri. Hell, even ChatRoulette, Nevada. The possibilities seem endless, although, let's be honest. There's only one real choice for those mayors seeking to make the ultimate name Switch. [From: The Topeka Capital-Journal]

Tags: google, google fiber for communities, GoogleFiberForCommunities, internet, kansas, top, topeka, weird

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