Town can enjoy a good laugh at its own expense

If any publicity is good publicity, the folks in Okotoks are smiling.

A seemingly bland town slogan — “There are a number of things to do in Okotoks” — began capturing the imagination of social media users, after it appeared on C-Trains in Calgary.

Tongue- in- cheek mock slogans have been making the rounds, including “We’ve got a Costco,” and “Okotoks is just nine kilometres from a big rock.”

The viral jabs, however, have resulted in more people talking about Okotoks than officials could have expected.

And, not surprisingly, the good people of Okotoks have a great sense of humour and took the mockery in stride.

“We find it funny,” said Shane Olson, economic development manager for the town. “Had we had a different tag line on there, we probably wouldn’t have garnered this kind of interest.”

But he does have a couple of quibbles with at least one of the mock slogans.

“The Big Rock is actually seven kilometres west of town. I think you had nine in your satire,” Olson said with a laugh.

“Believe it or not, a tonne of people come out to see North America’s largest ( glacial erratic),” he added.

More importantly, said Olson, this slogan only captured one piece of the larger campaign.

He points out that the tag line ‘There are a number of things to do in Okotoks’ was part of a marketing campaign that played on the theme of a paper fortune teller.

“Remember when we were in school and we played with those origami fortune tellers?” said Olson, “Within the origami fortune teller there are numbers, and the (slogan is prompting you) to unfold your flap to see what’s behind that window.”

“The actual slogan was ‘Let your summer unfold.’”

And, despite the mockery, Olson said the mayor is inviting me to visit — ostensibly to show me around and then see me eat my words.

When I reached Mayor Bill Robertson by phone, I decided to just come right out and ask if I should be worried for my safety.

“Not at all!” he chortled jovially. “Let me show you Okotoks! Bring your bicycle, we can ride. We’ve got 79 kilometres of bike paths.”

Either way, it’s hard to avoid the fact the ad campaign worked brilliantly.

I’ll be visiting Okotoks soon. I hear there are a number of things to do there.

This content was originally published on the Calgary Herald’s smartphone app.