Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Slogan wrap up

I was asked by a Sinae Jeong, from the Gangwon Provincial Government to help with creating or choosing an English slogan for the province. She wrote, "You can help me by doing the following:

Let me know what you think of the candidates, and when you do this, please, don't be polite."

Thank you to Gord Sellar and to the commenters at the Marmot's Hole. In response to my request for comments on various slogans emphasizing Gangwon's natural assets, I received a few good suggestions, many sarcastic and negative comments and a few laugh out loud ideas.

Two of the suggested slogans, from the international affairs office of Gangwon Provincial government, used 'green' as part of the phrase. Many of the slogans suggested by bloggers and commenters also used 'Green'. The funniest one went, “Gangwon Green is PEOPLE! It’s PEOPLE!” (by Seth Gecko). The best ones used "evergreen" in the slogan (Evergreen Gangwon, by Jewook).

A few commented noted that most foreigners pronounce the 'gang' in Gangwon as "gaeng" - the same sound in "Gangs of New York" or "Gangster". Add 'Green' to that and you are discussing a horrible disease brought on by unclean conditions.

The negative posters were not (completely) unreasonable. Immigration (admittedly, part of the national government rather than provincial) has made few friends among E-2 visa holders for their poorly-thought-out requirements for criminal records checks (among other things, they have asked for documents that foreign governments don't even produce). Also, English is used the way Latin might be used in English countries, a cheap way to add style without adding substance.

I expect to hear, at some point, what was chosen and hopefully some further follow up.

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