An effort is afoot to take “America’s Dairyland” off of Wisconsin license plates. The catch-phrase has adorned our plates since the 1950’s–when milk marketing really started taking off–but the folks at Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce believe it somehow limits how the state is perceived–like dairy farming is some backwoods operation conducted by country yokels.
But let’s say that the DMV decides to change our plates, what should go on there instead? I can tell you what I definitely DON’T want to see: FoxConn Valley. This is the ridiculous name Governor Scott Walker is trying to coin that describes the part of Southeast Wisconsin where FoxConn is going to build their plant–and other tech companies are supposed to follow–like “Silicon Valley” in California. I strongly urge my fellow media members to reject this term and continue to call it Racine County.
I wouldn’t mind if we trolled our neighbors a little bit with our license plates. Land of More Than 10,000 Lakes would remind Minnesotans that Wisconsin has more lakes than their claim to fame. We could also go with Semi-Permanent Home of Paul Bunyan’s Axe–as the Football Badgers have not lost to the Golden Gophers in 13 YEARS!! No Tollroads Yet, Far Fewer Murders, Much Lower Taxes, or Not Financially Insolvent would be perfect pot shots to take at our neighbors to the south in Illinois. Still the Owners of Door County would be another good one.
Some self-deprecating humor could be fun. Out-Drinking Your State Since 1848 certainly fits. Say Cheese!! would probably cause a lot of national buzz and make our plates collectors items. Get Lost In Our Roundabouts would suit our aging driving population well. Beer, Packers and Deer Hunting certainly encapsulates our priorities–and sums up life in the state perfectly.
WMC is pushing for our state motto: Forward–which is boring. When Governor Tony Earl asked for license plate suggestions in the 1980’s two top vote-getters were America’s Northern Escape–which hasn’t aged well–and We Like It Here!–which is the kind of marketing consultant crap that would likely be recycled if the state was willing to waste a couple million dollars on focus groups and test marketing.
My final suggestion sums up perfectly the state and country that we live in now and really helps to explain how we got here: The Land Hillary Forgot.
