Yesterday, to mark the bicentennial of “Live free or die!“, I mentioned the gazillions of dollars New Hampshire had shoveled the way of some lucky marketing agency to come up with a less bloodcurdling alternative, happily stillborn: “You’re going to love it here!”
Alas, it’s not only the Granite State. A reader writes:
Out here in Kansas we were fortunate enough to be rebranded for a mere $1.7 million down payment. We’re no longer the land of Oz, wheat, and Dodge City, now we are “Kansas: As Big as You Think”. Which is a pretty horrible slogan as it seems to imply that our geographic boundaries are relative to the cognitive abilities of a person pondering the size of Kansas. After coming up with this nifty new slogan the fine folks of Topeka have also spent money (another million or more) trying to make the people of Kansas take more pride in Kansas. In the end though, the liberals in Lawrence have made a mockery of the new slogan, changing it to; “Kansas: As Bigoted as You Think”.
That’s really the only slogan you need: “Government: As Big As You Think.” But there are others:
In the nineties, Pennsylvania also had a welcome sign bobble. For a short time, as you drove into the state, you would be greeted by a sign bearing the slogan “America Starts Here!” (I had no idea that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation had the power to re-draw the borders of the nation.) The sign didn’t last long, but I imagine they expended more green to dispose of the unfortunately-worded signs in an environmentally-friendly manner…
Did they have one going the other way reading “America Ends Here”?
Meanwhile, New Hampshire ends here:
“The Governor’s Task Force for the Recruitment and Retention of a Young Workforce for the State of New Hampshire” stated in its official report: “Our State portrays an unfriendly message that every individual has to succeed on their own, rather than count on a support system for assistance (Live Free or Die is not a friendly, supporting message that appeals to young people).”
There’s a slogan for the times: “Live Free On A Support System For Assistance As Big As You Think!” I’m happy to sell it to the “Governor’s Task Force” for $9.8 million.