When It Comes To Tourism Slogans, Nebraska Just Dropped The Mic
By Admin on October 19, 2018
It looks like the least-visited state in America for tourism is finally embracing its lonely reputation, and now it’s kind of making me want to go.
After years of safe, dull slogans like, “Nebraska…Visit Nice” and “Nebraska…The Good Life”, the state’s new slogan is a tongue-in-cheek embrace of its image as a place where there is nothing to do, and I love it:
“Nebraska…It’s Not For Everyone“.
Just like that, I suddenly wanna say “Oh yeah? I can handle it!” and book a flight to Omaha for the weekend.
The slogan is the merely the masthead for a multi-million dollar tourism marketing campaign full of other self-deprecating slogans about different aspects of the state. Slogans like:
“50,000 sandhill cranes can’t be wrong“–a nod to the state’s famous status as a stop for the birds during migration
Next to a photo of a child crossing a rocky, tree-shaded stream: “Another Day on the dusty plains”
Over a photo of smiling 20-somethings drifting down a lazy stream in a metal livestock tanks: “Lucky for you, there’s nothing to do here“
And, my favorite: “Festivals for everything from mud to testicles“–a reference to events as diverse as the Omaha Mud Run and a Father’s Day celebration of Rocky Mountain Oysters in Ashland, Nebraska.
According to the Omaha World-Herald, the state’s director of tourism said, “To make people listen, you have to hook them somehow. We had to shake people up”. And locals seem to get the joke: an informal poll by the newspaper found 72% in favor of the campaign.
If you want to read more about it, and to see some of the actual ads, click here. Meantime, I have a flight to Omaha to look into.
