Welcome, Regina, to the emotional brouhaha that results from introducing a new brand. Moose Jaw is aware of the pain.
When Moose Jaw officials announced that the city’s new brand would be “Surprisingly Unexpected,” the hue and cry was heard inside and outside city limits. The redundancy of the words in the phrase was one of the main concerns, sending grammarians screeching to the defence of the English language.
Others opposed to the words suggested the money spent on the brand could have been spent on other more useful projects, like streets and sidewalks, and that if the money had to be spent, it should have at least been spent locally rather than bringing in outsiders to pick a brand.
And few wanted to lose the moniker of The Friendly City, misunderstanding an official explanation that Surprisingly Unexpected was a brand while The Friendly City was a slogan — a slogan that would still be acceptable.
The commotion about Moose Jaw’s brand has not surprisingly died a natural death as other more pressing issues take the spotlight — but over in Regina, officials in that city are experiencing a Moose Jaw moment.
That city also introduced a new brand — Infinite Horizons — to promote what the capital city of the province has to offer. The cost was about $300,000, paid to an out-of-city and out-of-province design firm.
Community reaction was nearly identical to that expressed in Moose Jaw. Why spend money outside the city on a stylized R that looks like it was made by a balloon animal artist, isn’t there only one horizon, and what about I Love Regina?
Isn’t that deja vu?
Don’t panic, our Regina friends. Your infinite horizons chatter will soon give way in a surprisingly unexpected time frame to other more important matters like the Regina Pats’ playoff hopes.
