The Problem with Democracy
New Jersey, long considered by many the armpit of America…living in the shadow of and getting all the trash from that big city across the Hudson…the until-now, somewhat aptly but grossly misleadingly named “Garden State”…has chosen its new slogan for itself: New Jersey: Come See For Yourself.
This lame, generic, not-gonna-work-on-nobody, five-year-old’s cleverness level catchphrase beat out the obvious winner here: New Jersey: You Got A Problem With That?
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January 13th, 2006 at 9:03 am
Hah! I love the vague state mottos. They’re ridiculous (yet serious!).
January 13th, 2006 at 9:11 am
True, the do sort of speak volumes about the American sensibility. But there’s such a gap between Live Free or Die and Come See For Yourself.
Also, I can’t help but think there’s way more New Jersians who would’ve chosen You Got a Problem With That, had the vote been more comprehensive. According to the article, only 11,227 people voted, and Come See For Yourself won. I mean, even The Real Deal is better, capisce?
January 14th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
You’ve reminded me of when Carlo and I were driving home from Monterey one evening. We were passing through a depressing little town in the area called Soledad (Spanish for solitude, loneliness, no doubt). Aptly, the only real thing of note in Soledad is the correctional facility located there. Driving through on the 101 we passed the city’s welcome sign, “Soledad — Feel the Momentum!”. I wondered if the irony was as lost on the city residents as it was on the city officials who came up with that. Made me think of David Cross’ irony on t-shirts worn in the poor south.