'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
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.