'It's toxic': Why some experts say new Experience Regina slogans go too far
Mixed reviews continue to roll in days after Experience Regina delivered new campaign slogans that lean into the double entendre of the capital city’s name.
Lines such as "Show Us Your Regina," "The City that Rhymes with Fun," and "Make Regina Sexy" were part of the new rebranding.
Cindy Hanson, professor of sociology and social studies at the University of Regina, said she was shocked and disturbed to see the new slogans.
“My thoughts were, ‘Who would have allowed this to be released virally? Who is responsible for this?’” Hanson said.experience
“While this messaging may seemingly be fun or a spoof, in fact what it does is normalize violence against women. It normalizes sexual behaviours that are harmful to the wellbeing and safety of women.”
Hanson said by sexualizing women’s bodies in a campaign, it promotes similar dialogue among the public.
“It’s toxic. Saskatchewan and Regina have among the highest rates of violence against women in this country. It’s unconscionable that we would actually consider this fun,” she said.
To prevent similar situations in the future and to learn from this situation, Hanson said she’d like to see a stronger vetting process from Experience Regina.
“We need to vet things that are potentially racist or sexist,” she said.
In the marketing industry, experts have mixed views as well.
Marjorie Delbaere, an associate dean and professor of marketing at the Edwards School of Business at University of Saskatchewan, said the rebranding of the Experience Regina name was effective given the history of the song and the viral exposure.
However, she said they may have leaned in too far with the slogans.
“They’ve got two things happening at the same time and that one side that’s leaning into the parody that was going around the name and how it’s pronounced in the City of Regina, I think that’s where a lot of the conversation moved towards,” Delbaere said.
When it comes to humour in marketing, Delbaere said it’s tricky to execute.
Download the CTV News app to get local alerts sent to your device
“It’s not necessarily guaranteed to polarize as extremely as it did, but it is. It’s pulling on some of these cultural norms. Some people will find it funny and some people will not. When you put that in the context of a city, it’s different,” she said.
“They’ve made [the city] more memorable, but the tricky part is now it’s associated with some of these other negative emotions. Normally in branding you just want to focus on the positive emotions and eliciting positive feelings, so that’s where it’s gotten really tricky for them to manage.”
David Williams, an associate professor of marketing at the Edwards School of Business, called the marketing “a little bit genius.”
“It’s creative, exciting and risky,” he said, adding it sheds light on a city that’s not as well known as other Canadian municipalities.
“Don’t forget some of the target market is outside of Regina. It’s not necessarily the city residents themselves, which is where most of the complaints have been coming from.”
Williams said he doesn’t think the CEO of Experience Regina should have apologized.
“This is probably going to be short term backlash. The campaign has legs. It’s not just being risky for risk’s sake, it’s linked to the brand name and the play on the double entendre and it’s simply,” he said.
CTV News reached out to Tourism Regina for an interview on Monday and is still waiting for a response.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
What Canadians think of the latest Liberal budget
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Teacher shortages see some Ontario high school students awarded perfect grades on midterm exams
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Her fiance has been in prison for 49 years. She's trying to free him before it's too late
Christine Roess is a retired consultant. Ezra Bozeman has spent the last 49 years in prison, serving a life sentence for a murder he says he didn’t commit. Against the odds, the two fell in love.