REGINA - The CEO of the recently-rebranded Experience Regina is apologizing over the botched rollout of the new name of the organization.
Experience Regina's Tim Reid issued an apology after the slogan was slammed on social media in the past few days over criticisms that the new campaign announcing the new name was misogynist and promoted toxic masculinity.
The rebrand of the former Tourism Regina took place last week with the organization adopting a name that had popularized as a joke on the Jay and Dan show and on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Last week Tourism Regina announced it was going to turn the running joke into an official slogan.
“Tourism Regina is no more. As of today, we are... Experience Regina! Our City has been living this brand for a while now, and we thought it was time to own it."
But the renaming has been a flop on social media with online critics condemning the rebrand for oversexualizing the city, and for associating the name Regina with female body parts.
In particular, critics pointed to social media posts by Experience Regina with taglines such as “The city that rhymes with fun,” and “show us your Regina.”
In a statement, Sunday on Twitter, Reid apologized for the furore that resulted.
“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. 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 that 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.”
The indication from Experience Regina is they are reconsidering their campaign.
