What Rocky Taught Philadelphia About Underdog Branding — And Why the City Never Needed to Be Told

In 1975, a broke and unknown actor wrote a screenplay in three days and turned down $360,000 to star in it himself. The film he made became the highest-grossing movie of 1976, won Best Picture, and permanently branded an entire city. Rocky didn't manufacture Philadelphia's underdog identity — it found it already there and gave it a shape the rest of the world could see. Here's what that actually means for your business.