“We rely heavily on our connection to the sky as we develop and design new beers year-round.”
The phrase “Dark Sky” originates from Flagstaff’s history of actively protecting the night sky from light pollution. On Sunday, Oct. 24, the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition (FDSC) celebrated the 20th anniversary of the city’s designation as the First International Dark Sky City. This designation came from the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), a group dedicated to the protection of night sky from light pollution.
According to IDA Executive Director Ruskin Hartley, Flagstaff has long been a leader in dark sky preservation. “By embracing dark sky protection, the community has introduced countless visitors to the stars for the first time and demonstrated that quality light is good for business and the environment,” he said.
This connection to a history of environmental protection imbues the Dark Sky brand with a mandate to uphold night sky stewardship. Dark Sky Brewing Co. provides an example. When the brewery hosted FDSC’s anniversary celebration, the local business donated a portion of sales from a specially crafted beer – “Circadian Rhythm IPA” – to support the FDSC’s continued protection of the night sky. Brewery event coordinator Miguel Sotelo recognized that the Dark Sky brand comes with a sense of commitment. “We chose the name Dark Sky Brewery as a homage to Flagstaff’s beautiful night skies and intend to support and promote the beauty of our home through craft beer,” he said. “We rely heavily on our connection to the sky as we develop and design new beers year-round.”
Sotelo’s assessment illustrates the cultural effect of the Dark Sky brand. By evoking a commitment to environmental protection, the brand promotes a value system across the businesses that adopt it. To understand how unique that is, it helps to look at some other city brands.
There are hundreds of corporations in New York that use “Big Apple” in their name, and the same is true for “Windy City” businesses in Chicago. But “Big Apple” and “Windy City” originated from observations of greed and political hot-air, respectively, and while they’ve since been endeared to more lovable brands, they still don’t promote a set of values for the businesses that use them. By comparison, use of the Dark Sky brand communicates an acknowledgement of environmental responsibility.
According to a 2018 Nielsen report, people prefer to support environmentally-minded businesses. “Brands that are able to strategically connect (sustainability) to actual behavior are in a good place to capitalize on increased consumer expectation and demand,” the report writes, adding that “Sustainability claims on packaging must also reflect how a company operates inside and out.”
In other words, the Dark Sky brand may be a gift to Flagstaff businesses, one that connects goods and services to a unique local history of environmental protection, but it is also a responsibility. To use the Dark Sky brand is to suggest that the attached company operates with a conservation ethic in mind, and if customers catch wind otherwise, they may feel cheated.
As a Flagstaff brand, Dark Sky is likely to expand. The aforementioned anniversary celebration attracted a locals and visitors. Celebrators paired their beers with peeks into a telescope, where they could see the rings of Saturn, Jupiter and its moons. Among the crowd was Flagstaff Mayor Paul Deasy, who marked the occasion by proclaiming the month of October as “Dark-Sky City Month,” and October 24th as “Dark Sky City Night.” FDSC Executive Director Bonnie Stevens remarked upon the proclamation saying that Deasy “encouraged all to look up at the stars and pledge to keep Flagstaff in the dark.” When it came time to toast Flagstaff’s dark starry nights, a palpable pride filled the space.
But while this unique local brand is going strong, it bears repeating that it aligns with the spirit of environmental stewardship. Based on current projections from the U.S. Naval Observatory, Flagstaff, despite its rapid development, should only increase its overall sky brightness by 10% in the next 50 years, made possible by the community’s ongoing commitment to keeping its starry nights dark. FBN
By Sean Golightly, FBN
Flagstaff’s famous dark skies also are celebrated on Zonie Living: Business, Adventure and Leadership at