Council Votes to Rebrand Town ‘SoFa’

The new town branding logo. IMAGE COURTESY OF SIX AND SEVEN ADVISORS

Before its incorporation in 1779, Southington was officially known as “South Farmington.” On Monday night, the Town Council voted unanimously to pay tribute to its colonial name by rebranding the town using the abbreviation “SoFa.”

Under the terms of the proposal, Southington will adopt a new design for all of its town branding. Before the vote was taken, April Sloof, a representative from the municipal marketing firm Six and Seven Advisors, displayed a mock-up of the design, which featured a large sofa at its center.

Sloof described how the new design improves on the older town seal that features the Clark Brothers bolt shop. “People don’t use bolts much anymore. They’ve been replaced by glue and duct tape,” she observed. “Sofas, however, are popular and fun, and they have a variety of uses, like jumping on after the Huskies play.”

“With this rebranding,” she continued, “SoFa will join the ranks of other popular American tourist destinations like SoHo, SoLA, and WeHa.”

The new logo will soon be visible on official town documents, including the new bulky waste permits that residents will be required to show starting April 11 when they go to drop their old cat-clawed and beer-soaked sofas off at the transfer station.

Together with the new logo, the town will also kick off a marketing campaign based on the phrase “SoFa, So Good!” The Town Manager's office is in negotiations with high-end clothing retailer Temu to create a line of t-shirts, quarter zips, and sweat pants bearing the slogan, which will be available for sale at the I-84 rest stop:

Proposed t-shirt design. (Apple Watch not included)

The town also plans to rent billboards featuring the slogan in Wolcott and Berlin, in the hope that this will lead to an increase in tourism from these distant locales.

During the public comment session, some residents raised doubts about the council’s decision, saying that more consideration should have been given to other proposed brand names such as S-Town, City of Prog, or The Little Apple.

Christina Volpe, curator of the Barnes Museum, spoke strongly in favor of the change, noting that Bradley Barnes’ two older brothers, Barnum and Bailey Barnes, held a joint patent for the manufacture of sofa stuffing from donkey hair.

Immediately after adjourning the meeting, the council invited members of the public to join them for an ice-cream party at Pralines.

Jill Kelly contributed to this reporting.