Rhino's Ramblings - The Notorious M.I.J.

Notorious River Street

By Robert Thomas Opinion/Commentary

It came out of nowhere it seems and cost $12,000 - only one-fifth the cost of its $60,000 predecessor - but whether you like it or not Moose Jaw is going through a re-branding and we are no longer The Friendly City but we are Notorious.

After weeks of work the City of Moose Jaw, Moose Jaw Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Moose Jaw along with other groups have finally settled upon a new slogan for Moose Jaw. And Surprisingly Unexpected it packs a lot more punch than I and many others in the community were expecting.

It is a simple one word which the economic and business community hopes will draw attention to the city and make us stand out as unique when it comes to enticing tourist and other dollars into Moose Jaw. And when I say unique hopes are it is not going to be in a negative way.

In a presentation last Thursday evening and then the next day to its members in an e-mail the Moose Jaw and District Chamber of Commerce released the dragon onto Main Street. And whether it is a winner and heats up the business district or reeks havoc and accidentally goes down in flames is yet to be seen.

Despite being a simple one word slogan it has to be one of the most loaded words out there when it comes to slogans, especially for an entire City. The word notorious though does carry some very negative connotations in many people I spoke to about its minds. In their minds they cannot understand what was wrong with the old slogan ‘The Friendly City’ as it so suits Moose Jaw.

We are in many residents minds like the television land of Mayberry where everybody knew everybody else and they all got along. It is a slogan from yesteryear which is in many minds comforting. It is a slogan that evokes the old CBC Children’s Morning Show - The Friendly Giant - all is peaceful and well.

In many people’s minds Notorious for them is by far much, much too negative. It is close thing in more than a few people’s minds of dirty and gritty. An almost ‘in your face’ attitude that is atypical and of Moose Jaw.

We also need to also understand the word did take on a lot of negative connotations this year as a highly criticized film, City of Lies, starring Johnny Depp and dealing with the murders of rap stars the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. The film was to be released in 2018 but was shelved until likely this year due to its highly controversial trailer. You can check it out below.

Now will the Chamber’s and Tourism Moose Jaw’s little leak and the somewhat negative reaction from more than a couple average Moose Javians enough to delay or sink the re-branding? It is something yet to be seen. But my thoughts they are too far into the whole thing to change tack now and the re-branding is a go.

We all need to realize Moose Jaw has lived through a re-branding before when we dropped “The Band City” slogan with final Moose Jaw Kinsmen Band Festival Parade. Before that we were I am told called “The Prairie Oasis” so we have been through this before but never with a word which has negative connotations.

A quick look at the dictionary shows the word Notorious is often defined as something “something famous and well known but typically with some bad quality or deed.” Or at least that is how the web-site www.dictionary.com defines it.

Now defining a city Notorious is not seen as a very good thing in most travel guides.

More than a few travel guides speak of some of the most well known tourists cities and locations where there is great beauty but at the same time major problems with crime or in some cases overcrowding. They are cities Notorious for all of the wrong reasons, here is hoping there is a strong marketing plan to get around that. It doesn’t sound like the greatest adjective to attach to any locale if you want to bring any type of outside dollars into it.

But on the other hand it does pack a different appeal and is going to take some work, but if the groups involved in its creation can pull it off they may very well have a winner. Using a negative word does not always mean the slogan or re-branding is a bad one but with the right marketing the people behind it may well turn out to be Notorious Geniuses.

It is a theme which could literally help blow Moose Jaw out of the economic rut it has fallen into but at the same time it could end up a total disaster and take Moose Jaw over a cliff.

In a newsletter sent out to its members the Moose Jaw Chamber of Commerce came out with some strong mock-ups that use notorious as a marketing punch. A means to sell Moose Jaw as sort of hip, trendy with a past headed strongly in to a modern world.

With the slogan spreading like wildfire in the city after the Chamber released it to its members this past Friday afternoon it was met with some notorious opposition as in some people’s opinions it was just the regular outcry against change, any kind of change some say Moose Jaw is known for.

Then in what is to be expected on-line and elsewhere there was a bit of a backlash from the local “rah rah crowd” about how great the single word was as they attempted to silence the critics. Something once again Moose Jaw is also notoriously known for.

Even one of the people who attacked the critics is likewise notorious when it comes to opposition to the oil and gas sector.

But with that said if the powers to be ever wanted to send out a strong message about Moose Jaw they picked one of the best words out there.

Because in its heyday Moose Jaw really wasn’t a Mayberry we were in fact very notorious for many things. It was enough long ago set off the creation of our large and thriving chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the City. A reactionary response from the more socially conservative folk as a means to shut down the notorious goings-on down on River Street.

This was Moose Jaw in its most notorious time when for just two dollars, the prostitutes who inhabited River Streets many bars, took in customers.

Growing up in Moose Jaw as a kid I remembered the old saying “no lady would ever get caught dead with a two dollar bill.” A two dollar bill, the price the River Street prostitutes charged, was so notorious locally that it was called a “Moose Jaw dollar.” Even in the 1960’s as a kid it was something most older women did not like to be caught with. as it made them notorious.

It is in this mindset of the old versus the new that Notorious is coming into being the Moose Jaw’s new slogan. And like it or not it is not the past is gone and perhaps it is time Moose Jaw takes a bold step into the future.

Now here is even something better to think about and that is long ago the word notorious actually just meant famous - either good or bad. But the thing is over a few centuries Notorious took on bad connotations alone.

With that said in the annuls of branding if the entire Notorious campaign does backfire in the end it’s creators as well as the city might will become infamous in a Notorious sort of way.