Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
When the city government was planning to pick a new slogan in 2015 through a public contest and I.Seoul.U was one of the three final candidates, I was one of millions of people who disapproved of it.
When seeing it, I could not have any clue of its meaning, which, according to the city government, is "my and your Seoul" where I and you, with Seoul linking two of us, meet and coexist happily.
Not only I but also multiple Korea Times columnists, as well as the vernacular media, hurled criticisms, saying I.Seoul.U is a clear example of Konglish, how the city government was ignorant of promotion issues, why the slogan did not make sense, why it should not be selected, how stupid it is, etc.
But I.Seoul.U gained the largest number of votes in a public poll and became the new slogan regardless.
Even after being selected, the slogan was a laughing stock. People came up with satirical and parodied sentences and phrases, especially highlighting the use of "Seoul" as a verb and using the names of other cities and places as verbs.
The parodied works included "I.Incheon.U," meaning "I will make you indebted," lampooning Incheon City that had huge debts; "I'm COEXed," by making fun of COEX, a large shopping mall notorious for its complicated, hard-to-navigate structure; and "I'm Sindorimed," meaning "I am jammed in a crowd," ridiculing one of the most crowded subway stations in Seoul.
City officials kept rejecting the accusations and mockery, saying it looks weird only because people are unfamiliar with it (although I strongly suspected some of the officials themselves were against I.Seoul.U).
Since the selection, the city government has had I.Seoul.U plastered all over the city, putting a large sculpture of it in Seoul Plaza, using it for every promotional item of the city, and allowing people to use and modify it freely by not claiming copyright.
And such efforts seem to have worked: Now three years on from the contest, a recent survey showed 84 percent of Seoul citizens were aware of the slogan, and more than 70 percent said the slogan is likable.
In fact, my stance has changed, too. I do not think I.Seoul.U is bad anymore. Now I find it okay.
Maybe it is because I've become familiar with it. But more significantly, I find the ambiguity of I.Seoul.U and its lack of clear meaning, the main cause of criticism three years ago, can be the most charming factor of the slogan.
The slogan can have an infinite number of variations by replacing "Seoul" in the middle with other words, such as I.Christmas.U for the holiday season and I.Game.U among game users. Even images can replace it, such as an image of a palace for tourism promotion, a baseball player at a ballpark, and recently Mickey Mouse for a collaborative event with Disney.
The incomprehensibility and ambiguity of I.Seoul.U is now accepted as variety, openness, freedom and flexibility.
The slogan was made through a public contest and a public poll, and now the public is using it according to their respective needs with different forms.
Some Korea Times columnists may not agree with me and may still disapprove it. The survey also said 30 percent of the citizens are still opposed to I.Seoul.U because of the reasons mentioned above.
I also still do not understand the meaning of the slogan it initially hoped to display, "my and your Seoul," coexistence, passion, whatever.
Whatever its original intention was, now I'm part of the 70 percent who find the slogan likeable.
So, I'm sorry to Seoul City and to I.Seoul.U, for hastily giving harsh criticism toward the slogan. I learned it requires time to judge something.
