We Can Try To Understand The New York Times' Effect On Man

2043.The New York Times can make or break a region with its world class commentary, cosmopolitan air, and gimlet-sharp prose.

We already know what's happened with Portland. From the vantage of Manhattan, PDX is The City On The Hill, Built On The Ancient Unicorn Burial Ground. We don't just set style, we are style.

But if your state Tourism board comes up with a lame branding strategy, well ...

And Wisconsin has “Live Like You Mean It,” which sounds less like an invitation to vacation than a self-improvement project. As a matter of fact, besides being an old Bacardi slogan, it is also the title of a motivational book whose authors promise to guide you toward “a meaningful, fulfilling, and happier life with results worthy of legacy building.”

I don’t know about you, but when I want to get away from it all, I do not want to take my legacy along with me.

Kelli Trumble, the secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, said she was heartened that the new slogan already has an “amazing” 90 percent awareness rate in the state, although it’s pretty easy to get attention when you have a radio news anchor in Milwaukee blogging “Wisconsin: We have a lame slogan ... AND WE STOLE IT!”

Ooof. Now, that's cold.

On a separate but related note, I now understand why I was run out of Wisconsin that one time. I wasn't living like I meant it, I was living like I was screwing around!

Maybe we can ship them a few unicorns. That always works for me.

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