543 members voted on our slogan and here's the results:
26.52% Style over speed.
18.23% We're getting there. Eventually.
16.21% Life lasts longer if you take your time.
13.44% Choose the journey, not the destination.
12.71% Relax, enjoy yourself. You're on a bicycle, for heaven's sake.
6.81% Patience is a shortcut.
6.08% Transportation not Recreation.
Thanks to everyone who voted. Style Over Speed is, indeed, a cool slogan. I've been using it for a couple of years over at Copenhagen Cycle Chic. In order to give it more of a sloganish feel on this blog I added 'It's' on the graphics at the top of the page. "It's Style Over Speed."
Personally I fancy "We're Getting There - Eventually". It has more of a slogan ring to it.
The Slow Bicycle Movement - We're Getting There... Eventually.
Another proposal popped up after the polls closed.
The Slow Bicycle Movement - Enjoying the Ride.
With all that said, we're not locked into any one slogan. It's not like we need to settle on one because we're about to embark on a multi-million €uro global advertising campaign... :-)
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17 comments:
A slogan is better when it's short, but all those sentences are great for using them in addition to logo+slogan :)
I like the "It's Style Over Speed" (or maybe even Pleasure Over Speed or something like that) for the slogan because it's just short and catchy, but I agree that any of those could be used in advertisement or in connection with the slow bicycle movement. I especially like "Relax, enjoy yourself. You're on a bicycle for heaven's sake."
I don't think there should be just one "slogan." I mean, it's not like this is a corporation, right? Why should we follow a business/corporate/branding model so thoroughly? I like certain aspects of all of these, and could see each one as part of design for a poster, t-shirt, or whatever, but I don't think the Slow Bike "movement" needs an official slogan. The logo is a nice expression of unity, but a slogan seems superfluous.
ooh... pleasure over speed is goooood.
thom: my advertising gene/experience leans towards a clear message for those who are not a part of the movement. both those who may consider 'joining' and those who are against - and there are folks against, as i've seen on other internet fora.
so we're not a corporation but we have a great concept that we would like to spread. a catchy slogan/message isn't a bad thing.
Yeah, I get you, but this "movement" is so diverse, I wonder if a single catchy slogan isn't doing it a disservice by over-simplifying it and perhaps adding to an "us versus them" mentality, when in fact plenty of "slow" riders are also "fast" riders in different clothes (literally). Or perhaps I'm just over-thinking it. That's what I do, after all! Either way, I'm happy to be a part--just adding my two cents.
I agree that maybe a single slogan is too limiting. I for example do not prescribe to the "style over speed" mentality. Style is faddish and I don't think of this as a fad. It is my way of life. I don't do it to look good.
And the truth is I sometimes enjoy speed too. It's not a bad thing at the right place and right time. So "pleasure over speed" wouldn't apply to me either.
I do very much like, "We are getting there. Eventually" because to me it means more than just arriving to the destination you set out for on your bike on that particular day. I think it's about All of us getting "there". "There" being a society where cycling is an open, free, accepted, and supported part of everyday live, and viable for old and young. Not just racers, but those who are simply getting groceries, or returning a book to the library. That's where I hope we are all going. Eventually.
i get your point, Thom. I just think that SOME kind of slogany thing is good for spreading the word.
amapoalola: i get your point, too. although i don't think style is faddish. Style is style and it is what you make it. it has nothing to do with fads or trends.
to be honest, I like We're Getting There... Eventually best. It is Slow in a nutshell, but it is also a metaphor for bicycling. We're getting there... towards reinstating the bicycle as a feasible, pleasureable form of transport after 50 years of car-centric culture.
Zakkaliciousness: I'm sorry, I didn't make my point clearly. Let me try again. I don't want slow cycling to be seen as faddish. I think the emphasis on style puts it in that realm. Styles do come and go.
styles come and go, but style is a constant...
I do agree that, while it's nice to have lots of different slogans for t-shirts, stickers etc., you need to be able to come up with a single strapline that sums up what the movement is all about. Otherwise, it may be too disparate a group to be a real movement ...
Amapolalola: I think you're conflating fashion trends with style. According to Coco Chanel, "Fashion fades, only style remains the same." Taking this into consideration, I don't think it's a bad idea at all to incorporate style into the slogan. In fact, I think it makes cycling appear more inclusive when you tell people that they don't have to wear lycra and ride hard to be a cyclist. However, I completely understand your concern about portraying slow cycling as a trend instead of a lifestyle.
I think also what I had in mind in suggesting Pleasure Over Speed, was that the ultimate goal of riding is pleasure, rather than simply how fast you can go or whether you can travel as quickly as by car or whatever. That's ok if you *like* going fast - still the focus is on the pleasure of speed, not simply the speed itself.
...as I think there are plenty of people riding aggressively simply because they feel they can't spare the time to go slower or because they feel they are supposed to push themselves physically on a bike or because they feel in a rush because they are used to going 30-40mph in a car.
it's one thing if you enjoy it, it's another if you feel pressured or hurried or whatever.
I love the idea of this, but I regrettably cannot participate. For some reason, every time I get on my bike, I have to go as fast as I can. Something in my blood...it pushes my pedals faster and faster. I fully support you guys...but I just can't slow down.
Acoustony, it happens to me, too, sometimes. Have you tried to whistle/sing a song while riding? When I do it, I automatically begin to enjoy the ride and speed is suddenly not necessary.
At this point of the discussion, I think having a unique slogan doesn't seem the best. Just tell everybody: hey, you can use our logo in combination with one of those suggestions, the one you like best. Yo, maybe a list of rotating slogans may be perfect instead of only one.
In any case, "it's pleasure over speed" is just great...
Since this is plainly an international movement, with (probably) more people who don't have English as their mother tongue than those who do, how about being language-neutral and using the Latin motto "festina lente" (= "make haste slowly")?
Oh all right: that's the elitist dodderings of a silly old fool who still uses a slide rule in preference to a calculator. So my vote goes for "We're getting there. Eventually."
definitely "we are getting there...eventually". it so describes the mood i sense in the movement and the one i get into when my cycling friends tell me to hurry: "i'll get there...a little later and not as sweaty!"
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