Blacktip Island residents and visitors have flooded the small Caribbean island’s Heritage House ballot box with suggestions for the island’s new slogan. (photo courtesy of WrS.tm.pl)
Concerns about dropping tourist numbers have prompted the Blacktip Island Chamber of Commerce to launch a contest to create a catch phrase to attract more visitors to the small Caribbean island.
“We need something that’ll grab folks by the heartstrings and not let go,” C. of C. president Harry ‘Scratcher’ Wrasse said. “We’ve got a whizz-bang tourism product here. The problem’s getting folks to notice. Right now, we get lost among the other Tiperon Islands. Blacktip’s motto might as well be, ‘Hey, We’re Here, Too.’
“Ideally, a catchy saying’ll also drum up community spirit,” Wrasse said. “Everybody on the island—resident or visitor—is invited to make as many suggestions as they want. Then, end of the month, we’ll have a community vote on which one’s best. And once the final vote’s announced, there’ll be the usual celebration and debauchery afterwards.”
Island leaders hoped to focus the slogan on the island’s natural beauty.
“These catch phrases needs to focus on nature and the sea and fish and such,” de facto island mayor Jack Cobia said. “Scuba diving. That’s the sort of thing that’ll draw folks in. Our favorite suggestion so far’s my ‘Blacktip Island: Surface With a Smile!’ It may be hard to top that one.”
Other popular suggestions include:
- If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It
- Well, I Heard . . .
- Blacktip Is Fin-tastic
- Free Beer! (Just Kidding)
- Welcome To the Coconut Telegraph
- If Your Heart Ain’t On Blacktip, Get Your Ass Off
The contest elicited strong emotions among island residents.
“I’m doing everything in my power to make sure that ‘Surface With a Smile’ bollocks goes down in flames,” Coryl Bleeching said. “I’m stuffing the box with, ‘Mako My Day.’ If it looks like ‘Surface With a Smile’s gonna win, that suggestion box may get damaged after hours. Or burnt, so folks get the message. With ‘Blacktip’ in the mix, anything not shark related is complete shite.”
Island authorities have hired security personnel to safeguard the voting process.
“We’re taking vote integrity quite seriously,” Island Police Constable Rafe Marquette said. “Private guards have been retained to keep a 24-hour watch on the suggestion box to discourage ballot-box shenanigans. Booger and Dermott Bottoms will take eight-hour shifts, with broom handles at the ready.”
Residents and visitors wishing to enter slogan suggestions are encouraged to place them in the suggestion box at the island’s Heritage House. The winner will be announced June 1, to mark the beginning of the hurricane season.
The Blacktip Times 