Bunbury's divisive slogan put on hold

The Bunbury City Council has delayed its decision on the fate of the city’s proposed new tourism slogan, pending further consultation with tourism operators.

Deputy Mayor Stephen Craddock asked for the item to be removed from the agenda of Tuesday night’s council meeting.

He said tourism operators had not had enough time to comment on the slogan and there was no rush for it to be adopted.

Revealed in the South Western Times last week, the proposed slogan, “Bunbury: Where you’re free to be” has proved divisive.

Councillor Ross Slater, who was not at Tuesday night’s meeting, welcomed the delay while openly expressing his disdain for the Braincells marketing agency slogan.

“I think it’s a complete and utter load of codswallop,” Cr Slater said.

“We’ve paid a Perth company to send three wallies down to Bunbury, put them up in the Lighthouse Beach Resort for two nights, and they’ve come up with one of the stupidest concepts I’ve ever heard.

“I’d be surprised if this exercise has cost the city anything less than $10,000.”

Cr Slater said the best way to develop a new tourism slogan was to open up the exercise to the people of Bunbury.

“Allowing the public to make suggestions would be the smartest path forward for us because it unites the city,” he said.

“There are a lot of intelligent people who live in Bunbury and with everybody talking about it we’d have a clever, catchy slogan in no time.”

The proposed slogan created a buzz on social networking sites, with members of The X2Y Concept network hitting out at the slogan on the group’s Facebook page.

Members lamented that the city needed a “firm identity” and offered a number of alternative slogans, including: Bunbury: Everything at your feet; Bunbury: Where your adventure begins; Bunbury: Centre of the South West; and Bunbury: Surrounded by wine and water.

The new tourism slogan is set to be launched in July, but the council’s decision to defer it means that date may now be in jeopardy.