Branding something as varied and complex as an entire state is no easy feat — and it’s tougher still to condense that brand into a pithy catchphrase. So it may be no big surprise that the unveiling this week of Connecticut’s new tourism slogan — “Still Revolutionary” — was met with fairly limited enthusiasm among state residents.
Some thought it sounded better without the word “still.” Some thought it focused too heavily on one slice of the state’s history (and not one the state is particularly defined by, compared to, say, Massachusetts). And some thought it simply lacked truth-in-advertising – that Connecticut remains the yawn-inducing Land of Steady Habits.
State slogans also suffer from inevitable comparison to those Hall of Fame tag lines used to market Virginia and New York — you know which ones I mean. Coast to coast, every new slogan gets measured against those two, and inevitably comes up short.
“Still Revolutionary,” therefore, might seem more praiseworthy compared to vast pool of lesser-known tourism slogans across the land. To test that, below is a list of tourism slogans for all 50 states, though the list comes with several caveats. Most were culled from official state tourism websites. But a couple are state nicknames or economic-development slogans where the state does not have an officially designated tourism tag. A few are the slogans most recently used by states, but which have since been abandoned. Wisconsin’s “Live Like You Mean It” lasted less than a year, and the much-derided “Say WA” was mercifully deep-sixed in Washington State. In addition, some states have multiple slogans, while only one is listed here. And one — Iowa spelled with parentheses instead of the letter “o” – is merely the logo of the state’s tourism board, which does not appear to have an official slogan.
As for “Great Potatoes. Tasty Destinations”: that really was Idaho’s tourism come-on a few years back. It has been since been replaced by “Adventures in Living.” So it is now safe to visit again.
Got a favorite? Or one you despise? (Or a proposed correction to the list?) Add a comment with your thoughts.
| State | Slogan |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Sweet Home Alabama |
| Alaska | North to the Future |
| Arizona | Grand Canyon State |
| Arkansas | The Natural State |
| California | Find Yourself Here |
| Colorado | Come to Life |
| Connecticut | Still Revolutionary |
| Delaware | It's Good Being First |
| Florida | Your Florida Side is Calling |
| Georgia | Georgia on My Mind |
| Hawaii | The Islands of Aloha |
| Idaho | Adventures in Living |
| Illinois | Mile After Magnificent Mile |
| Iowa | I()WA |
| Indiana | Restart Your Engines |
| Kansas | As Big as You Think |
| Kentucky | Unbridled Spirit |
| Louisiana | Pick Your Passion |
| Maine | There's More to Maine |
| Maryland | Maryland of Opportunity |
| Massachusetts | It's All Here |
| Michigan | Pure Michigan |
| Minnesota | Explore Minnesota |
| Mississippi | Find Your True South |
| Missouri | Close to Home. Far from Ordinary |
| Montana | The Last Best Place |
| Nebraska | Possibilities...Endless |
| Nevada | Discover Your Nevada |
| New Hampshire | Live Free and… |
| New Jersey | Come See For Yourself |
| New Mexico | New Mexico True |
| New York | I Love New York |
| North Carolina | A Better Place to Be |
| North Dakota | Legendary |
| Ohio | So Much to Discover |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma is OK |
| Oregon | We Love Dreamers |
| Pennsylvania | State of Independence |
| Rhode Island | Unwind |
| South Carolina | Made for Vacation |
| South Dakota | Great Faces. Great Places. |
| Tennessee | We're Playing Your Song |
| Texas | It's Like a Whole Other Country |
| Utah | What People Are Talking About |
| Vermont | Vermont, Naturally |
| Virginia | Virginia is for Lovers |
| Washington | Say WA |
| West Virginia | Wild and Wonderful |
| Wisconsin | Live like You Mean It |
| Wyoming | Forever West |
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21 Responses to State’s New Slogan: At Least It’s Not “Great Potatoes. Tasty Destinations.”
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Hmm. I grew up in the Nutmeg State, but now live in Ninilchik, Alaska. You may have some tourism slogan for us, but we sure haven’t caught up with it—the standard brand up here is “The Great Land”. And I’m sure sorry to see that Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming have changed their slogans, too: Mountains and Much More, Land of Enchantment and Wild, Wonderful Wyoming are all better than what they’ve got now.
Land of Enchantment was perfect for New Mexico. Not sure what they are getting at with New Mexico True (?). The best taglines are simple and straightforward. I Love New York. Virginia is for lovers. Easy to get. Still Revolutionary? What the heck does that mean?
Too bad the paper version of the newspaper doesn’t include some of the comments I’ve seen posted online here.
Clearly, most of the posters consider this new slogan to be yet another absurdity in this horribly screwed up state.
Connecticut: “We’re sorry.”
“Still revolutionary” is about the worst tagline I could imagine, surely we can do better and surely we can spend millions less to enhance the notion that we are a state worth visiting. In the age of social media, wouldn’t it have been more engaging and economically more feasible to have run a CT state slogan contest? At least this way people who actually live, work and hang out in the state would be taking a stab at capturing the essence of what CT is about. Mr. Malloy, get a grip and stop squandering taxpayers hard earned dollars on wasteful, ill-conceived initiatives and pet projects.
–From an independent woman voter who has lost all faith in the Democratic party.
I would like to know how much was spent in the other states for their campaigns. I would imagine we are near the highest, yet one of the smallest and most in DEBT. I would also imagine that we are the only state to hire a marketing company OUTSIDE our state! Unreal…
Our $500,000 slogan is pathetic. First, it doesn’t fit our history; second it’s patently untrue – Still Revolutionary? Since when and in whose drug induced mind is that the case? Our slogan should be: “Where we talk alot and Say Nothing.” or “Connecticut: All Hat and no Cattle.” Or “Connecticut: Land of Steady Ripoffs.”
I like your suggestions!
Howbout….“Connecticut: Land of Obscene Retirement Payouts for State Employee Retirees”
In the 1980s, a state-sponsored contest brought us “Better Yet Connecticut” as our new state slogan. As soon as I saw that slogan, I knew it wouldn’t catch on. It just didn’t sound right. It was awkward to say out loud and to read on the page. My prediction is that our new slogan, “Still Revolutionary,” will not stand the test of time, either. I don’t know why, with all the talent and creativity that exists in this state, a better slogan couldn’t have been created. My wife submitted a slogan to that 1980s contest: “Connect with Connecticut.” It’s still available.
“Connect with icut”
But which “revolution” is CT “still” celebrating … the American or the Communist?
Industrial?
New Jersey: “There’s something special in the air.”
They spent thousands of our tax money for
“Still Revolutionary” ? What revolution??
For free – “At least it’s not New Jersey”
Perfect!!
This slogan is a stroke of genius. It implies that Connecticut was at the forefront of the fight for independence and continues to challenge the status quo with its great institutions of higher education that are found throughout the state.
Connecticut’s other misnomer: **The Constitution State.**
We don’t need no stinkin’ constitution!~ Malloy and Clowns
They spent $500,000 worth of tax dollars on a slogan? THAT slogan? to an out-of-state marketing company? The new tourism video that was made is a real snore. I would like to hear how Connecticut is “revolutionary”. It feels very conservative to me.
Call me revolutionary…but I like it.
Haven’t seen any tourism stuff yet….hope it’s well done.
But the basic slogan of “Still Revolutionary” I like.
“Still Revolting” might be closer to the mark.
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