You would think that something THIS simple wouldn't cause a controversy.

You'd also be wrong.

Chris Busby at the Bangor Daily News just uncovered one gem of a story - and it's too good to not be outraged over, so here we go!

Let's get one thing straight before anything else: Portland was settled in 1632. Historians and contemporary accounts all agree: Richard Tucker and George Cleeves settled in what is now Portland's peninsula in 1632 after they left an outpost in Cape Elizabeth. Numerous plaques and markers around the city say "1632," and Maine State Historian Earle Shettleworth agrees.

And just in case you were wondering... the entire city celebrated its 350th Anniversary in 1982, not 1983.

Everyone seems to agree that Portland was settled in 1632 except for "Portland Downtown," the name now used by the organization that represents Portland's Downtown District. The controversy arose in October when they unveiled a new logo for their organization. Local marketing firm Pulp+Wire created the new logo and followed up with a companion graphic trying to explain the error.

Now, here's where the train starts to derail.

According to Chris Busby's piece in the Bangor Daily News, Casey Gilbert, Portland Downtown’s new executive director, actually wrote the following in an email to Abraham Schechter, the archivist at the Portland Public Library:

While historians may not agree with our logic, we were really looking at the new brand/logo as a marketing piece and something that people would want to have on tote bags, t-shirts, postcards…”

Requests for the organization to fix the error have been refused.

Apparently, it's more important to the people at Portland Downtown that the logo look good rather than be accurate.

Does this make any sense to anybody?