The city of Regina’s tourism arm is apologizing for two new slogans they used in a campaign to encourage people to visit the city.
The two slogans, “Show us your Regina” and “The city that rhymes with fun,” grossed its residents out, with several of them calling them misogynistic and immature.
@ExpRegina Seeing how the CEO signed off on this rollout of a campaign steeped in masculine toxicity, it's time to give Tim Reid his immediate termination and to bring in a new CEO that can guide this bureau on a new campaign that'll undo the damage that's already been done.
@ExpRegina
Experience Regina CEO Tim Reid quickly took to Twitter to apologize for the slogans and vowed to do better.
“I want to start by apologizing, on behalf of myself and our team, for the negative impact we created with elements of our recent brand launch,” Reid wrote. “There was such positive feedback around Experience Regina; however, it was clear that we fell short of what is expected from our amazing community with some of the slogans we used. Regardless of our intent, the impact is valid, and for that we apologize.”
Thank you for using your voice, thank you for holding us accountable, and thank you for allowing us to be better. -Tim Reid, CEO of Experience Regina
In a separate tweet, Reid assured Regina residents and prospective tourists that they will be “more stringent in evaluating all aspects of [their] brand to ensure it aligns with the standards of the community.”
Please read for an update.
Kristin McLeod, a former board member of Tourism Regina, felt the campaign disrespected the city’s residents and subsequently wrote a letter to the mayor, according to CBC News.
“It’s sexualizing the city when it isn’t necessary,” McLeod said.
CBC News added that Regina Mayor Sandra Masters will speak and apologize for the failed marketing attempt on Wednesday after the city council.
