
 |
|
March 15, 2010
JWisdom.com Moody, Grumpy, Irritable Children
with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
JWisdom.com Manufacturing mediums
with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (4 minutes)
Glenn Garvin: Conspiracy theories, why people believe them and how they spread
JWisdom.com For Yourself, Not By Yourself
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Paul Richter: Biden promises 'viable Palestine' is in the offing
March 10, 2010
JWisdom.com How To Get A (Real) Life
with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( EXTENDED EPISODE)
Paul Richter: Israel exerts soverign right to its capital as Biden looks on astounded
March 9, 2010
JWisdom.com Free To Be (Responsibly) You and Me!
with Rabbi Naftali Brawer ( 8 MINUTES)
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to rule on free speech in case of soldier's funeral
March 8, 2010
JWisdom.com Finding or Losing Yourself? Here's How!
with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Steven Emerson: America must learn from the UK about the future of Islamist subversion
March 5, 2010
JWisdom.com The Limits of Eternity
with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 MINUTES)
March 4, 2010
JWisdom.com Using Things, Loving People
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff ( 7 MINUTES)
March 3, 2010
JWisdom.com Grasping The Name of Your Life Game
with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( 8 MINUTES)
March 2, 2010
March 1, 2010
JWisdom.com Whole in One
with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Michael Muskal: Hillary meets with Israeli official, discusses gefilte fish dispute
Feb. 26, 2010
JWisdom.com A Biblical Secret for a More Powerful You
with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Feb. 25, 2010
JWisdom.com The Second Most Important Question in Your Life
with Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh ( 5 MINUTES)
Seema Mehta : U.S.-Israel relations raised in California's Senate race --- by conservatives
Feb. 24, 2010
Feb. 23, 2010
JWisdom.com The Last Laugh of Enlightenment
with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair ( 5 MINUTES)
Feb. 22, 2010
JWisdom.com Esther and the third Truth with Rabbi David Aaron ( 9 MINUTES)
Feb. 19, 2010
JWisdom.com Olympic Faith
with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Israel and the West are perpetrators of a myth that endangers the Jewish State
Feb. 18, 2010
JWisdom.com A Wedding Disaster to Remember
with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein ( 3 MINUTES)
Feb. 17, 2010
JWisdom.com Think your life is messed up?
with Rabbi David Aaron ( 11 MINUTES)
Greg Logan: 'Greatest Jewish sporting event of all time since David versus Goliath' may be postponed because of bar mitzvah
Feb. 16, 2010
JWisdom.com Feet On The Street Spirituality
with Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 8 MINUTES)
Marty Peretz: Let Europe Mind Its Own Business. It Brings Nothing To The Table Save For Mischief
Feb. 15, 2010
JWisdom.com Are Our Children Really Ours?
with Rabbi Mordechai Becher ( 5 MINUTES)
Susan King: 'Wolf Man' reflected writer's wartime Jewish experience
|
| |
Jewish World Review
August 24, 2006
/ 30 Menachem-Av, 5766
Phrased and Confused
By
Malcolm Fleschner
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The newspaper industry comes in for a lot of criticism, but no one can question our
commitment to recycling. For one thing, we publish on paper that is easily
repurposed, whether into other paper products, bird cage lining or a rolled up tool
to discourage the dog from soiling the hall carpet. Why, we even recycle the
material inside the paper by reprinting many of the same stories year after year,
merely changing the names and dates where appropriate. It's a real time-saver when
we can simply cut and paste our most frequently used headlines like "Mideast Peace
Talks Break Down," "Congressman Denies Corruption Charge" and "Former Child Star
Arrested."
My favorite such "déjà vu story" would have to be the controversy that inevitably
erupts every time a state tourism bureau asks residents for help coming up with a
new state slogan. Just this past year we've seen lengthy campaigns that resulted in
new slogans like Indiana's racing-themed "Restart Your Engines," Utah's lofty "Life
Elevated," Pennsylvania's deliciously irrelevant "I Brake for Shoo-fly Pie" and
Washington's inexplicable "Say WA!" So why do states make such a fuss over their
slogans? I think it's simple because state tourism bureau employees clearly
understand that state residents who are concerning themselves with a new slogan are
state residents who are not concerning themselves with all the tax dollars being
wasted by the state tourism bureau.
New Jersey's recent effort was typical. After receiving thousands of entries,
officials narrowed the options to five, and then put it out to a statewide vote. The
eventual winner was "New Jersey: Come See For Yourself," which barely beat out
challengers like "New Jersey: The Best Kept Secret," "New Jersey: Expect The
Unexpected" and "New Jersey: What The %#$& Are You Lookin' At?"
Whatever choice they make, states regularly come in for criticism from residents who
feel that a new slogan won't actually do anything to encourage tourism. Truthfully,
has anyone ever made vacation travel plans based on a state slogan ("Honey, I know
you wanted to go to Tahiti this year, but at least according to this brochure, North
Carolina is "A better place to be")?
That doesn't mean slogans are meaningless, however. Why, just imagine what our
nation's cultural identity would be without the historically significant phrases we
all remember like "Give me liberty or give me death," "Remember the Alamo," and
"You're not fully clean until you're Zest-fully clean."
I'm also sympathetic to prospective sloganeers because I understand the challenge
involved in trying to get a new slogan to catch on with the public. A few years ago
I tried to persuade everyone I knew to employ my clever signature phrase, "That
really burns my bagel," as a means of expressing frustration. Sadly, my efforts at
coining a new catch phrase failed. In retrospect, I could point to any number of
reasons for my failure (lack of properly targeted marketing, shortage of funds, a
stupid idea to begin with, etc.) but the biggest is that I rarely even used the
phrase myself. In fact, the only time I ever remembered was on mornings when I
happened to you guessed it - burn my bagel. If only I'd thought to install a
webcam over my toaster, I might well have inspired the next "Wazzzzup!"
But getting back to New Jersey, the state's slogan woes only worsened when someone
discovered that "Come See For Yourself" had already been used by other states,
including West Virginia. Having abandoned the phrase to avoid potential legal
issues, New Jersey finds itself slogan-less. Experts estimate that this deficiency
may be costing the state dozens of tourist dollars every day. But not to worry, New
Jersey residents, because I have a simple solution. And no, it's not "New Jersey:
That really burns my bagel." Although at least they'd know that one hadn't been used
before.
Instead, my suggestion is to take a cue from the newspaper industry and recycle.
Find an old slogan that no one's using anymore, preferably one that's already
associated with a celebrity, and redeploy it in service of your state. I guarantee
that for a fraction of what was spent on the old slogan, the Garden State could hire
Jimmy "J.J." Walker for a huge multimedia campaign of "New Jersey: It's Dy-No-Mite!"
Or how about Blossom's Joey Lawrence's face on billboards across the country
exclaiming "New Jersey: Whoa!" And what prospective tourist could resist the
temptation to find out in person the answer to Gary Coleman's rhetorical question,
"What'choo talkin' 'bout, Jersey?"
Ideally, New Jersey would use all of these campaigns. Not only would the state save
precious tax dollars, but they'd also perform a valuable service by keeping many of
the nation's former child stars out of the criminal justice system. At least until
the next round of Mideast peace talks, anyway.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Malcolm Fleschner is a humor columnist for The DC Examiner. Let him know what you think by clicking here.
Previously:
08/09/06: We're Gonna Party Like it's $19.99
07/19/06: Just Singing in the Brain
05/24/06: Who says you can't go home again?
05/11/06: When nightly news stories go off script
04/26/06: Cents and sensibility: A thought for your pennies
03/16/06: The day the Muzak died
02/23/06: Checkbook diplomacy begins at home
02/15/06: Today's toys: Where learning means earning
© 2006, Malcolm Fleschner
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Michael Barone
Dave Barry
Tony Blankley
Andy Borowitz
David Broder
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
John Fund
Frank J. Gaffney
Lloyd Garver
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Lewis Grossberger
Victor Davis Hanson
Froma Harrop
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Laura Ingraham
Cheri Jacobus Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Dick Morris
Bill O'Reilly
Jim Mullen
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Jonathan Rauch
Celia Rivenbark
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Culture Shlock
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
Gary Brookins
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holber
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Ranan R. Lurie
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

How 2
Lori Borgman
Elder matters
Fixit
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Tech Maven
Every Monday Matters
Nutrition Myths
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
How Stuff Works
|