Moonshine, Basketball, and the Power of Place

Like a random encounter on the street, sometimes disparate ideas converge in interesting ways. Today, Kentucky Mist Moonshine and the Project for Public Spaces shed some light on municipal branding.

1 minute read

April 13, 2016, 9:00 AM PDT

By Hazel Borys


"Every day, social media serves up a seemingly endless stream of content. Raw information, with each item typically reflecting the priorities of its respective poster. If you’ve assembled good curators among your friends and contacts, it adds up to a lot of interesting stuff. But the real interest, at least for me, is when you stumble into curious intersections that seem to exist between disparate content."

"This happened recently with this article from the New York Times detailing a skirmish of sorts between 'poor mountain entrepreneur' Colin Fultz, a start-up distiller of gourmet moonshine, and the University of Kentucky. Fultz’s signature product is called 'Kentucky Mist' and the University considers his promotional merchandise like shirts and hats to be a violation of their trademarked rights to the word 'Kentucky.'"

Scott Doyon goes on to discuss how Kentucky moonshine and college basketball converged to help him understand why city branding efforts always seem to fall flat. It has a lot to do with complexity and PPS's Power of 10:

Power of 10

Source: PPS. Click through for larger view.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016 in PlaceShakers

Young Professional

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

Get top-rated, practical training for planners

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

September 16, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

Passengers board an Amtrak train under a cloudy sky.

Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement

The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.

September 18, 2026 - Mass Transit

A coal power plant in Iowa billows smoke into the air.

Nation's most wind-powered state turns to coal as data centers increase energy demand

For the first time in decades, Iowa has increased its generation of coal power.

September 17, 2026 - Inside Climate News

A rendering of the planned bridge over a large river. The bridge has two main support beams that form diamond shaped arches over the bridge.

Alabama scores up to $2.5 billion federal loan for largest infrastructure project in state’s history

The Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project aims to ease congestion at Alabama’s worst bottleneck.

6 hours ago - NBC 15

Public land in Idaho. Most of the photo is a green field, with mountains and a forest in the distance.

Trump is considering data centers on 6 states' public land — some state officials say they had no idea

If the administration approves the proposed projects, data center and data center-related developments will cover 17,600 acres of public land.

7 hours ago - The Washington Sun

Two construction workers on a wind turbine, with two more in the background against a pink sky.

Despite court ruling, Trump is keeping nearly all wind projects in the US on hold

At least 110 wind energy projects have not heard from the government since a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's freeze on wind turbine clearances was likely illegal.

September 20 - Heatmap