Moose Jaw -
With the week off, I had some time to think about Moose Jaw's new slogan.
Surprisingly Lame and Surprisingly Redundant were the first couple that came to mind. As what usually happens when these big rebranding slogans are rolled out by various communities, it's easy to poke fun at them.
And the reason it's easy is simple. Usually, there is a big run up to the launch where city officials put on a very public show of how much effort they are putting into the project. As launch day approaches, these communities play up the fanfare about how great the new slogan is.
Then the slogan comes out and it just doesn't meet the fanfare. Why? Because a two- or three-word marketing slogan can never meet that kind of build-up.
It's just a couple of words folks, it's not gonna change the world. Anybody who thinks a slogan can make a huge positive impact is buying a marketing load.
However, if there are holes in the slogan, it can definitely have a negative impact on the community, along with the built-in negative impact of the unreasonable hype.
With a slogan that has two words with the same meaning, the city was opening itself up to ridicule.
As I perused the Internet earlier this week, I found one such column in the Winnipeg Free Press, where columnist Doug Speirs had a great deal of fun with the slogan.
He even included a transcript of a phone conversation with Mayor Dale McBain where he continually pokes fun at the slogan and McBain does his best to keep a stiff upper lip.
However, I have to admit Speirs had some fun comments about the slogan. One suggestion of his was, to avoid the redundancy, to change it to: "Moose Jaw ... SURPRISE!" Which I kind of like
He also asked McBain if it isn't just like Toronto having a slogan: "Toronto: Terribly Horrible." As a former denizen of Toronto, I kind of like that one.
I also liked "Moose Jaw: At least we're not Regina" and "Moose Jaw: Pretty Darn Close to Medicine Hat."
Personally, my thought about the slogan was, regardless of the redundancy, it sent out the message of "Hey, we're not as cruddy as you think." It doesn't really build the city up much.
Ultimately, this project was set to fail thanks to the hype but then the delivery made things even worse.
Moose Jaw: Getting Publicity Any Way We Can.
Jason Small can be reached at 691-1255.
