Reid apologizes after online backlash against new Experience Regina branding, slogans

The city that rhymes with fun. Show us your Regina.

Some people on social media aren’t liking the new Experience Regina branding and slogans one bit.

Dr. JoLee Sasakamoose, an associate professor at the University of Regina, posted on Facebook the new branding is hypersexualized and racist after a photo of an Indigenous hoop dancer was used to promote the slogan “Make Regina Sexy Again”.

In response to all of the backlash on social media, Experience Regina CEO Tim Reid posted an apology on Facebook saying it was clear that the organization fell short of what’s expected from the community with some of the slogans that it used.

Reid told the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Monday the organization shouldn’t have allowed elements of the rebrand to become overly sexualized, adding that was where it fell short.

“People called us on it. They were very vocal and passionate about it … We recognized the negative impact that it was having. It’s why we sent out an apology,” he said. “We’re going to reposition things … all week long until we get this right.”

He added part of the launching process was to accept all the stereotypes, realities and what people say about Regina and then reposition things and come out with owning the narrative this week.

“We just never got that far. People were so emotional and rightfully so. They were offended by it. As a city-based organization, we had an obligation to be better and we weren’t,” Reid said.

At the end of the day, signing off on new campaigns before they’re released is the CEO’s responsibility.

“We have a whole bunch of people (who) work in the team and they go through it and we sign off on pieces of it. We don’t see all the components of it, but … these are my responsibilities,” he said.

“I think from my side, as a leader, as a community member and frankly as a dad … it’s important for me to get this fixed. This lands on me.”

On the other hand, there are still many people who love the new Experience Regina branding and slogans as well as the revamped Experience Regina song.

Reid said it’s too early to tell whether the entire campaign will be scrapped, adding the pieces that people found offensive are being removed right away and everything about it will be reconsidered.

“There is a strong push around Experience Regina. People did like the remake of the song and essentially taking something poking fun at us and owning it with great local artists and local celebrities,” he added.

“But it’s one of those things (where) when (someone finds themselves) seeing negativity, (they) don’t want anything that draws (them) back at those places.”

Fortunately, since a lot of it was digital and was part of a phased launch, Reid said it didn’t cost as much as one would expect.

“Because we were poking fun at ourselves in this stage, there wasn’t much investment in it. Ultimately, these things do have a time cost, which is probably the biggest,” he added. “I don’t think this is a massive cost investment. Much of the work was done using inside resources, but time is money and brand is important.”

The CEO said based on his experience with other rebranding campaigns, Experience Regina was at the perfect point to hit the brakes.

“It was a starting point,” he said.