Merritt Herald, February 20, 2014

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2013 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS

Local petition pushes back against branding By Emily Wessel THE HERALD

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ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET Nicola Meadows resident Audrey Nelson welcomed Dress Red for Heart and Stroke mascot “Hot Lips Houlihan” (named for the MASH character because of his heart-shaped lips) to the retirement home where he will reside for six months. In a first in the event’s eight-year history in Merritt, there was a tie for the top spot. With scores of 10 across the board for decorations, enthusiasm and dress, Nicola Meadows and the Florentine shared the top honours. Each will get a gift basket from Heart and Stroke and the residence’s name embroidered on Hot Lips’ T-shirt. The monkey will also spend six months at the Florentine. For more photos from the Dress Red event, turn to pages 10 and 11. Emily Wessel/Herald

The backlash against Merritt’s new brand and tagline “Country with attitude” has been swift, vocal and damning. Local people have been circulating a petition opposing the new brand and tagline and have hundreds of signatures after just a few days. Some critics of the branding say the word “attitude” has a negative connotation that they don’t want associated with their town. Lana Schindler signed the petition in front of the post office on Tuesday, citing that connotation as her biggest concern. “A lot of people I’ve talked to agree that it just comes off negatively,” she said. Long-time Merritt resident Marguerite Kempin said she would sign a petition against the branding, and that she doesn’t like the tagline because the word “attitude” is not timeless. “I don’t like it because that’s a slang term that is a popular term at this time, but is it going to be a popular term four years down the road?” she said. “I think it’s much too slang, much too young and not really mature enough for a city.” People who are displeased with the branding are slated to speak before council as a delegation at the beginning of the next regular meeting on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. It certainly isn’t hard to find someone who’s displeased with the branding — just about everyone has an opinion on the topic, which

is undoubtedly the talk of the town. The branding was adopted by city council at its regular meeting on Feb. 11, and included a condition that implementation of the new brand includes a public open house. Imagery associated with the brand will be unveiled at the open house. That open house is slated for March 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Civic Centre. However, some critics of the branding say the open house should have taken place before it was accepted by council. Merritt Mayor Susan Roline is standing up for the city’s new brand direction in the wake of the backlash. Roline said it was devised over a lengthy process that included about 140 community members in workshops facilitated by the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA), a regional division of the tourism marketing Crown corporation Destination BC. Those workshops took input from stakeholders on the direction the new brand should go in. TOTA presented three taglines to council after distilling the input. The other two choices were “Country branded” and “Kicking back.” Roline said it wasn’t just council’s choice on the tagline, and that a focus group with seven high school students helped narrow down the brand.

See ‘Attitude’ Page 2

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