rest assured, none of that has changed in my campaign to win the torontoist's new slogan contest.
so here's the deal.
as it is down to the wire (the contest closes Friday) i have decided to pull out the big guns and go ahead and call this a two horse race.
with Forever Yonge and i (Fall in XO with TO) playing a delicate first and second place dance, many of my arguments about why mine is better than the competition (i.e. this isnt the arena to promote the diversity of the city - here) don't necessarily apply to this particular contender...
in fact, determining which of these two choices would best serve the defined purpose (intriguing potential tourists to visit our fair city) is a pretty straightforward role-playing process. like so:
take a moment and put yourself into the shoes of a pedestrian, commuter, backpacker or any person of the world (just not a torontonian's shoes) and sit down at a bus stop somewhere outside of the GTA (ottawa, halifax, belleville, napanee, regina, etc). and then look up. there, in front of you stands a poster inviting you to fall in XO with TO. two seconds. you get it. its simple. you realize you havent been to toronto in awhile. you wonder whats new there. you realize that there could be things there to fall in love with. you decide to visit and stimulate the local economy promptly.
alternatively, in the same shoes at the same busstop, you look up and see "Forever Yonge". you think "Rod Stewart.. whats he doing these days?" oh wait, is that the street in Toronto? that really long street with all the dirty tshirt stores where the Sam the Record Man used to be? i think thats the street all my friends from Toronto always tell me to avoid when visiting the city. weird that it has a poster...
do the right thing.
VOTE XOTO
