When I was a student at Rutgers, there was a proposal to change the name of the school’s teams, from the “Scarlet Knights” (Rutgers’ color is red) to “something more reflective of the state of New Jersey”. My suggestion, which won some kind of award in the school paper, was to change the name to “The Turnpikes”.

In that spirit, I present excerpts from the newsletter of Weird NJ magazine:

NEW JERSEY ASKS CITIZENS TO SUGGEST NEW STATE SLOGAN
“It seems New Jersey officials are trying to come up with a new, catchy slogan for our wonderful state. The NJ Division of Tourism asked all citizens of New Jersey to help them out in this quest to rid themselves of the “NJ and You: Perfect Together” slogan that they feel is outdated, and offered a chance for everyone to throw in their two cents.

Acting Governor Richard Codey thought the genius of ordinary New Jerseyans could come up with something better than the slogan delivered by Lippincott Mercer, a New York image consultant firm that was paid $260,000 to come up with “New Jersey: We’ll win you over.”

The tourism department was ready to roll with their paid-for slogan, but Codey rejected it because he thought there was a negative connotation to the phrase.

“It reminded me of when I was single and I’d ask somebody out and she’d turn me down, and I’d say ‘Give me one day for a chance to win you over,’” said Codey at a Camden appearance in a recent Star-Ledger article.

The public voiced some strong sentiments about the state as soon as this new slogan search was announced. It also voiced disapproval at the state for paying such a big amount of money to a marketing firm (from New York, no less) to come up with such a lackluster slogan.”
 

Many people have posted suggestions at the Weird NJ message board. Here are some of my favorites.

New Jersey…More than a Turnpike.

First in war…and first in pizza.

New Jersey. You’ve arrived. Now get the Hell out of here and go back where you came from!

New Jersey - Within Pissing Distance of New York

New Jersey - You’ve seen it, now go the hell home.

New Jersey. At least we’re not Delaware.

Welcome to New Jersey. What’s that smell?

New Jersey- What The Hell You Lookin’ At?

New Jersey: You want a slogan, I’ve got your slogan right here.

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New dog breeds are winning fans across America, according to a recent article in Money magazine. These au courant mixes typically are one part poodle, since this breed is hypoallergenic and doesn’t shed. The results tend to be adorable, friendly, long-lived — and humorously named:

Labradoodle — Labrador retriever + Poodle
Schnoodle — Schnauzer + Poodle
Goldendoodle — Golden retriever + Poodle
Maltipoo — Maltese + Poodle

But why stop there? Surely there’s room for more genetic mix-and-matching, not to mention neologisms. We’d like to see these combos:

Cockerdoodle — Cocker spaniel + Poodle
Cockerdoodle II — Rooster + Poodle
Befoodle — Confused Beagle + Poodle
Caboodle — Cat + Poodle (resulting in large litters)
Snickerdoodle — Hyena + Poodle
Noodle — Hairless Poodle
Voodoodle — Sacrificial chicken + Poodle
Moodle — Cow + Poodle

I invite, no implore, others to share their contributions so I can stop obsessing about this.

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A show of hands: Who thinks I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby is guilty purely on the basis of his name? Immediate associations: summering in the Hamptons, silver spoons, prep school.

According to Wikipedia, Cheney’s former Chief of Staff, who has pleaded innocent in the CIA leak case, has offered differing accounts of how he came to be called “Scooter.” Either it was a childhood comparison to baseball player Phil Rizzuto (known as “the Scooter”), or it was a name given by his father to descibe how quickly he moved across the crib.

Libby is said to be guarded about what the “I.” stands for, though it’s been variously reported as either “Irve” or “Irving.”

Catchword suggests an immediate name change to Hank Jones.

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Stanford Magazine wrote a great article on Maria Cypher, Catchword’s shy but brilliant Creative Director. Read on and see all of the partners mentioned or quoted.

Read the interview as a PDF.

Posted in Catchword, Fun stuff, In-the-News | No Comments