Tuesday, June 08, 2004
WE WANT OUR SLOGAN BACK
If you're like the Editors of LB in '04, you probably thought the slogan "Don't Mess with Texas" was coined by a group of illiterate, gun-toting, beer guzzeling cowboy wannabe's sitting around the local Gas & Sip with barbacue sauce dripped all over their wife-beater T-Shirts. Actually....
The State Department of Transportation has considered some new slogans that will, in all liklihood, not be co-opted by the vast majority of Texans:
"DON'T MESS WITH THE BIG STATE JUST TO THE LEFT OF LOUISIANA!"
"DON'T MAKE OUR DRY, DUSTY, PARCHED LANDSCAPE LOOK ANY WORSE!"
"PLEASE DON'T LITTER!"
"TEXAS, IT'S NOT JUST FOR ASSHOLES ANYMORE!"
"TEXANS ARE TIDY!"
"PICK-UP AFTER YOURSELVES AND NO GUNS AT THE TABLE!"
"TEXAS, NO ONE MESSES WITH US BECAUSE NO ONE REALLY WANTS TO LIVE WHERE WE LIVE!"
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If you're like the Editors of LB in '04, you probably thought the slogan "Don't Mess with Texas" was coined by a group of illiterate, gun-toting, beer guzzeling cowboy wannabe's sitting around the local Gas & Sip with barbacue sauce dripped all over their wife-beater T-Shirts. Actually....
by MATT CURRY, Associated Press
Last updated Sunday, June 6, 2004
Don't mess with our slogan, Texas warns
DALLAS -- "Don't Mess with Texas" -- and get a lawyer for anyone trying to earn a buck off the slogan. The popular catchphrase intended to promote tidy roadsides has appeared on everything from T-shirts and bumper stickers to breath mint tins and refrigerator magnets. Now, the state Transportation Department wants it back.
"The state of Texas has a lot of money invested in the slogan, and we definitely want people to know it's a litter prevention message, it's not a macho message," said Doris Howdeshell, director of the department's travel division.
In the past year, the agency has sent 23 cease-and-desist letters warning merchandisers against unauthorized use of the federally registered trademark.
The State Department of Transportation has considered some new slogans that will, in all liklihood, not be co-opted by the vast majority of Texans:
"DON'T MESS WITH THE BIG STATE JUST TO THE LEFT OF LOUISIANA!"
"DON'T MAKE OUR DRY, DUSTY, PARCHED LANDSCAPE LOOK ANY WORSE!"
"PLEASE DON'T LITTER!"
"TEXAS, IT'S NOT JUST FOR ASSHOLES ANYMORE!"
"TEXANS ARE TIDY!"
"PICK-UP AFTER YOURSELVES AND NO GUNS AT THE TABLE!"
"TEXAS, NO ONE MESSES WITH US BECAUSE NO ONE REALLY WANTS TO LIVE WHERE WE LIVE!"
