Subject: State Tourism Slogan

We have a sassy bunch of readers here at The News Tribune.

Last month, I reported on your dilemma – finding a new advertising agency to create a four-year, $16 million campaign to promote tourism in Washington.

Our readers responded with more than 140 creative ideas for marketing slogans for that campaign. So I set up an online poll to find the slogan with the most reader support.

The winner?

“If you have to say ‘State,’ we don’t want you.”

I know. I know.

You’re thinking, “Well, it’s better than ‘SayWA!’ But it has kind of a standoffish tone to it. It hardly sounds inviting.”

Yes. And that’s the brilliance of it. Call it: the anti-slogan slogan.

While those other 49 states wrap themselves in the same sugary, monotonous, forgettable, heartsy-fartsy, we-beg-you-to-love-us themes, Washington can set itself apart with its brazen disregard.

You know how this works, Juli. In the end, the debutante who plays hard to get always has a better shot at winning the beau’s heart than the one who slathers her affections on him. It’s human nature.

Let me introduce you to the mastermind behind this ingenious twist of bait. Meet David Breneman. He lives in Rosedale, west of Gig Harbor, and commutes to a job in Bothell where his team maintains the Web site for att.com.

He sent in multiple entries chiefly “to make fun of the other submissions” but realized the power and boldness of marketing Washington counterintuitively.

“I am kind of a contrarian by nature,” Breneman told me.

And so are many of us Washingtonians. Right? We have that fierce independence, that take-it-or-leave-it spirit. Tourists would love that.

Breneman knows Washington’s innate character. His ancestors came here before statehood. He grew up here.

“I wouldn’t want to go someplace where the people were unctuous and sucking up to you,” Breneman says. “I want to go someplace with character.”

(Unctuous means insincerely suave, like a snake oil salesman. I had to look it up.)

Breneman says his slogan carries a subliminal message for the traveler weighing Washington as a destination: “If you come here, maybe it’s a moral victory for you.”

“If you have to say “State,” we don’t want you.”

I know you like it, Juli. But let’s say your finely tuned political feelers tell you its honest irreverence would never make it through all the bureaucratic hoops.

In that case, let me suggest you hire Mil Dobbs. Dobbs came up with two of the top 10 vote-getters in our online poll. And both carry the traditional ebullience found in many other state tourism slogans – but with a flavor that’s both memorable and uniquely Washington.

“Ooo La WA” – my personal favorite – came in fourth. “Zippedy Do WA” tied for seventh.

“I once worked with a wonderful old Presbyterian, and I guess I was in trouble, as he said, ‘Mil, your head is full of bric-a-brac.’ And it is true to this day,” Dobbs told me.

So, there you have it, Juli. What do you say? Just don’t say “SayWA!”

Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785

dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com

Keeping Washington in mind

Voters in an online poll at thenewstribune.com selected the following as their top vote-getters among more than 140 reader-nominated slogans for Washington state’s next tourism marketing campaign.

1. If you have to say “State,” we don’t want you (submitted by David Breneman)

2. (tie) Washington: The Grass IS Greener (submitted by Patty Schumacher)

2. Go Green. Go To Washington (submitted by Jenn Chushcoff)

4. Ooo La WA (Submitted by Mil Dobbs)

5. Washington: The Evergreen State (submitted by Ken Miller)

6. Washington: From Ski to Shining Sea (submitted by Karen Burne)

7. (tie) Discover Washington (submitted by Dawn Lucien)

7. Zippedy Do WA (submitted by Mil Dobbs)

9. (tie) A certain je ne sais WA (submitted by Charles Williams)

9. Washington: As green as it gets (submitted by C.J. “Mailman” Schoonhoven)

9. Washington: George would be proud (submitted by Paul Conrad)