'Show us your Regina': Tourist board apologises for sexualising Canadian city

A rebrand is a tricky thing.

Remember when they tried to change the name of Coco Pops to Choco Krispies? No? That’s because Kellogg’s swiftly saw the error of their ways. And we bet your mum still calls her favourite sweets Opal Fruits.

Well, a tourist board in Canada is the latest to back pedal on some, erm, unusual marketing choices.

Last week Tourism Regina – who promote the wonders of Regina, a city in southern Canada – rebranded to Experience Regina.

To launch their new name, they released a video, with the slogan, ‘Show us your Regina,’ and, ‘The city that rhymes with fun.’

In case you didn’t quite get it, Regina rhymes with vagina. Very clever.

And let’s just say, it didn’t go down too well.

The rhyme has been used as a joke in Regina for sometime now, after a YouTube video popularised the phrase back in 2008.

‘Our City has been living this brand for a while now, and we thought it was time to own it,’ wrote Experience Regina on social media.

Even the city’s mayor, Sandra Masters, showed her support for the rebranding. She wrote on Facebook that the new slogan ’embraces who we are – fun, genuine, and bold’. 

But not everyone agreed.

Regina residents took to social media to show that they weren’t on board with the joke. One user called it ’embarrassing’, while another dubbed it ‘crass’.

Others pointed out that it spoke to a patriarchal trope that makes fun of the female anatomy. ‘Frat boy humour won’t attract people to this city,’ said one disappointment person on Twitter. A second added: ‘Winking at the patriarchy isn’t funny, get your bros under control.’

After the backlash, Experience Regina seems to have changed their tune, issuing an apology on social media.

They said they had removed all content that was ‘inappropriate or offensive’ and a message from CEO Tim Reid added: ‘Thank you for using your voice, thank you for holding us accountable, and thank you for allowing us to be better.’

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