Everything about Will It Play In Peoria totally explained
The saying, "
Will it play in Peoria?" is traditionally used to ask whether a given product, person,
promotional theme or event will appeal to
mainstream (also called "
Main Street") America, or across a broad range of
demographic/
psychographic groups. The phrase originated during the
vaudeville era and was popularized in movies by
Groucho Marx. The belief was that if a new show was successful in
Peoria, a main midwestern stop for vaudville acts, it would be successful anywhere. The phrase subsequently was adopted by politicians, pollsters and promoters to question the potential mainstream acceptance of anything new.
According to William Safire,
President
Nixon’s administration perpetuated the phrase:
John Ehrlichman was heard using it when talking about campaigning in the Midwest.
In the
United States,
Peoria, Illinois, has legendary status as a
test market. Peoria has long been seen as a representation of the average American city, because of its demographics and its perceived mainstream
Midwestern culture. In the
1960s and
1970s, Peoria was deemed an ideal
test market by various consumer-focused companies, entertainment enterprises (films and concert tours), even politicians, to gauge opinion, interest and receptivity to new products, services and campaigns.
In the
1980s,
comedians like
Sam Kinison and musicians such as
Bob Dylan,
Robert Plant and
Phil Collins each perfected and launched concert tours in Peoria. During Presidential campaigns, major TV networks would visit Peoria to 'take the pulse' (gauge the response) of everyday Americans on national issues and
candidates.
Peoria's historical
test market status can be attributed to a number of factors. At one time Peoria was at the country's population center (a point which has since moved South and West, as more Americans move away from the Northeast to the Southwest). The term 'Heartland of America' refers to this region, though over the years the moniker has been embraced by other
markets as well.
The city is also located approximately halfway between two major midwestern cities, (
Chicago, Illinois and
St. Louis, Missouri).
Perhaps most important, at one time Peoria closely reflected the diversity of the United States
population in terms of race, income, age, rural and business interests, educational background and other key criteria.
While Peoria is still considered the "test market capital of the world", other cities such as
Albany,
New York;
Greensboro,
North Carolina; and
Santa Barbara,
California, are more commonly selected as test markets today for greater testing precision.
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