I ran across some click-baity article on Facebook in one of the groups I’m a member of. The click-bait worked, because I clicked on the article and learned more than I wanted to about the website and the oversized beer packaging that they said proved the new slogan Keep Austin Weird was right on par.
Wait a minute. New slogan? Clearly not written by an Austinite. Keep Austin Weird has been a saying in Austin for pretty much as long as I’ve been here. Longer ago than 2000, the date cited in this wikipedia page. That may be why the guy who claimed he invented the phrase “Keep Austin Weird” couldn’t win his lawsuit and why his competitor’s company was able to trademark the brand and sell merchandise. They could do that because the phrase was in common use before the initial claim was made. I’m not sure why everyone can’t use it. It shouldn’t be anyone’s trademark, much less someone who wants to make a few bucks selling t-shirts.
In any case, an oversized package of beer is a pretty pedestrian thing to salute as the paragon of Austin weirdness. Most Texans would go for that and it would make stocking the cooler for a barbecue easy-peasy. Just take a look at what passes for weird on the Wikipedia page and remember that those aren’t even the weirdest things in Austin, most of which can’t be captured on video to be shared in the first place since most of the weirdness happens in your head.
Other cities have now started trying to mimic Austin’s weirdness, too. The sincerest form of flattery. Here’s hoping they draw off the plague of Californians we are currently suffering under with their new advertising campaigns.
