Live Like You Mean It, Wisconsin

Wisconsin has a new slogan.

The problem with the slogan is it isn't new.



From the Wisconsin State Journal:

Wisconsin’s new state slogan isn’t all that new.

Gov. Jim Doyle said Monday the state will use "Live like you mean it" to promote Wisconsin as a tourism and business destination. The Department of Tourism plans to use the phrase in advertising campaigns and is encouraging other state agencies to follow suit.

But motivational speakers, authors and even Bacardi have used the phrase in marketing campaigns. Some say they aren’t thrilled the state is overtaking their slogan and may oppose its attempt to get federal trademark protections on it or even take legal action.

"They are not going to get a federal trademark. I just wanted to let them know that," said Ellyn Luros-Elson, a Napa, Calif., dietitian who is co-author of a 2006 book by that name. "It doesn’t make sense the state is going to use something they know has already been put out there."

The state’s brand manager, Sarah Klavas, said the Department of Tourism thoroughly vetted the phrase before introducing it and is confident there will be no trademark infringement.

She said the state applied for a trademark with the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office and is awaiting approval after a legal review, which included hiring an outside firm, turned up no problems. She noted that multiple entities can use the same phrase as long as they are promoting different items.

"We have certainly done our due diligence to be sure that we could use this," she said.

Coming up with the slogan and accompanying logo — which shows a silhouetted figure doing a cartwheel across letters spelling out Wisconsin — cost $50,000, Klavas said. The money came from the department’s annual $10 million marketing budget.

$50,000?

For THAT?

The slogan and logo aren't exactly being enthusiastically embraced by Wisconsinites.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

[T]he slogan beneath the guy doing the cartwheel atop the state's name isn't exactly original - and it wasn't exactly embraced by Badger State residents who had fun parodying and lampooning the image Monday.

But the slogan itself, whether it's well-received or dissed by the people who view it, isn't going to make or break the campaign to attract tourist dollars to the state, local ad man Steve Eichenbaum said.

"It's not exactly a slogan. It's bordering on a cliché," Eichenbaum said of "Live like you mean it," which has been used for everything from selling rum to hawking self-help books.

"But slogans don't sell anything," said Eichenbaum, whose offbeat advertising campaign helped elect Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold in his first run for the U.S. Senate.

"What's going to count in this case is the meat behind the ideas for the campaign, the advertising, marketing and commercials."

State tourism officials can only hope that reaction from potential tourists to the theme and logo - which will be used in upcoming tourism marketing campaigns and by state agencies for business recruitment and other functions - isn't similar to the hundreds of people who weighed in Monday on online forums and Weblogs dedicated to the subject.

If the slogan doesn't have an impact on anything, as Eichenbaum claims, then why have it at all?

...Gov. Jim Doyle, who unveiled the slogan and logo Monday, said the marketing campaign is meant to reflect Wisconsinites who are the opposite of complainers. They're a "fiercely proud, hardworking and loyal people" who also have fun with life, the governor said.

I'm not picking up a "fiercely proud, hardworking and loyal people" vibe from the guy doing the cartwheel.

It would be a good image to advertise a clown school or a cheerleading clinic.

I don't see how the slogan and logo work into the notion that Wisconsinites "are the opposite of complainers."

Kind of funny that a lot of Wisconsinites are complaining about the slogan and logo.

The problem that I have with it is it's not original.

Since originality isn't an issue, instead of "Live like you mean it," why not just go with one of these?

"Yo quiero Wisconsin."

"Wisconsin, it's the quicker picker-upper!"

"Wisconsin, it's what's for dinner."

"Wisconsinites plump when you cook 'em."

"Wisconsin, it's the cheesiest."