Posted on 11/14/2005 5:50:52 PM PST by Cagey
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Make us a slogan we can't refuse, the state of New Jersey said. We got your slogan right here, the people replied.
A push to come up with a new slogan for the Garden State has become an excuse to crack New Jersey jokes. Among the not-so-serious entries:
"New Jersey: You Got a Problem With That?"
"NJ: How You Doin'?!"
"Most of Our Elected Officials Have Not Been Indicted."
The search yielded more than 4,000 possibilities in all, many of them attempts to sum up the land of Bruce Springsteen, "The Sopranos" and smelly interstates in one pithy phrase. The deadline for submissions was Monday.
The program began last month after acting Gov. Richard J. Codey rejected a consultant's recommendation -- "New Jersey: We'll Win You Over" -- as too negative. That slogan, developed as part of a $260,000 contract by global image consultants Lippincott Mercer, was shelved a day before it was to be unveiled.
Instead, the state opened the process to the public, establishing a Web site and telephone hot line to receive suggestions, which included the lyrical ("The Ocean, The Motion, The Magic") along with the satirical.
New Jersey, which once used "New Jersey and You: Perfect Together," has not had a new marketing slogan in four years. "Get Away, Without Going Far Away" has been used in the interim, but tourism officials say it does not resonate with out-of-staters.
"We have the opportunity to craft a new message for our tourist literature to reflect the pride we have in our many parks, open spaces, farmlands, quaint villages, boardwalks and beaches and our exciting cities," Codey implored would-be slogan writers on the Web site.
The governor and the state Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism Commission will "pare down the suggestions and go from there," said Karen Wolfe, a commission spokeswoman.
The state's musical legacy -- Frank Sinatra called New Jersey home, Springsteen still does -- led one person to suggest "From Ol' Blue Eyes to the Boss: Jersey Is Singing Your Song." Another entry: "Born to Fun."
Others found New Jersey's reputation for mobsters, toxic waste sites and lowbrow taste fair game. "Bada Bing! Choose New Jersey" was one suggestion.
The campaign was run by the state, but newspaper columnists, talk radio and "Saturday Night Live" got into the spirit, too. "New Jersey: It Always Smells Like This," one Philadelphia Inquirer reader suggested. "New Jersey: Come Glow With Us," another said.
New Jersey: Former Home of Danny and the Juniors!
"THE BODIES ARE BURIED IN OUR GARDEN, STATE"
And, The Four Seasons.
New Jersey: Quadruple Delaware's land and quadruple the taxes.
Hahahaha! I'll never look at that word the same again.
New Jersey: redneck free.
You've never been to the Pinelands.
Damn, not even Danny and the Juniors are from there! How about Rosie and the Originals?
Nice "art," as they say in the newspaper business.
Nor can I. I even contributed a slogan- New Jersey: Maybe next year. And by posting the chart, I acknowledged there are those from NJ that are on this site and think it is worth doing something positive. Being in the state you're in (and I don't mean Texas), you missed that point and instead posted something (yet again) about someone named Tony.
It's all fun and games, but at least give credit to those who are contributing to this site.
Fair enough.
Not sure of the exact wording, but at any rate the tradition of putting New Jersey down goes way back.
New Jersey is the only northern state where Lincoln didn't get a majority of the popular vote either time he ran. Somehow he still got the majority of the electoral vote (4 of 7 votes) in 1860.
New Jersey: Find Hoffa, win a trip to New York.
A few years later, I had to take my car to the Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne (MOTBY). There is an overwhelming sense of corruption there. You'd better not leave anything loose or valuable in the car, because by the time it gets to Naples or Jeddah, it'll be gone and not stolen by the Napolitanos or the Yemenis working the port at Jeddah.
There are lots, I mean lots, of rednecks in Florida. Everybody knows that but what is amazing is how many are actually from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
New Jersey: Gateway to Pennsylvania
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