According to The New York Times, New Jersey’s acting Governor Richard J. Codey unveiled the top five entries for New Jersey’s tourism slogan last week and asked state residents to vote for their favorite.
The five finalists – “New Jersey: Expect the Unexpected;” “New Jersey: Love at First Sight;” “New Jersey: Come See for Yourself;” “New Jersey: The Real Deal” and “New Jersey: The Best Kept Secret” – were chosen by Mr. Codey from among nearly 8,000 public submissions.
Mr. Codey tried to separate the final nominations from the more snide and now rejected alternatives – including “New Jersey: We Will Win You Over,” a slogan that the state paid a consultant $260,000 to come up with in October.
Residents can vote for their favorite entry by telephone at (609) 984-9893 or online at www.nj.gov/slogan until Jan. 1.
Adfreak’s Catherine P. Taylor picked up on the story and suggested the state needs some copywriting assistance.
“The Late David Ogilvy” suggested, “New Jersey: You Gotta Problem With That?”
Here are some other ideas. “New Jersey – Pick An Exit. Any Exit.” Or, “New Jersey – The Garden State…No, Really.” Should the state want even better options, we’d be happy to provide them for one tenth the sum the aforementioned consultant was paid. Hey, it’s Christmas. We’re feeling generous.
Let’s edit it to “NEW JERSEY; WHICH EXIT?”. After all this is how Joisey Ex-pats greet each other. And it has the proper denotations and conotations.