Why 'I.Seoul.U' over 'Hi Seoul'?

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Seoul’s new slogan, “I.SEOUL.U,” is drawing negative reactions from both citizens and expatriates.

The new slogan gained the most votes among three candidates in a combined poll of experts and citizens Wednesday, with the other finalists being “SEOULMATE” and “SEOULING.”

It will replace the previous slogan, “Hi Seoul.”

“I would rather have no new slogan for the city,” said American Colin Brown who has lived in Korea for eight years. “I do not get any idea what the slogan tries to say. It is a bad call.”

James Dunphy, an ESL instructor, said, “They chose the worst.”

Jerry Busbee, an English teacher at a Seoul elementary school, also reacted negatively: “Seoul just got a terrible slogan to replace their other terrible slogan. Why couldn’t they have asked a few native speakers of English?”

Many PR experts and expats say that the new slogan is uninspiring and makes little sense in English.

“At first glance, it does not appear to fit the guidelines the contestants were given for a slogan that conveys the idea of Seoul as a place of passion, harmony and leisure. But it could catch on,” said Michael Breen, president of Insight Communications Consultations.

Soongsil University prof. Kim Min-ki, who was in charge of the city’s slogan project, said there were more than 16,000 candidates in the preliminary.

Non-brand experts selected 30 of them, and then a group of 28 experts took part in selecting the three finalists. There was only one foreigner among the 28.

Of the 30, there were candidates such as “Surprising Seoul” and “Find Your Seoul,” which may appeal more to foreigners, Kim said.

But neither became finalists.

“We thought they failed to imply Seoul’s present and future as well as its vision,” he said. “We believe ‘I.SEOUL.U’ shows the dynamics and potential Seoul has.”

He said the new slogan can have a variety of meanings that Seoul can be anything between I and U ― a concept which they think is important.

Despite such explanations, however, many citizens of Seoul seem to disapprove of the new slogan.

Seoul’s Facebook page and website for the slogan selection has been flooded with negative comments about it.

“I would rather go for SEOULMATE among the three,” said Seoulite Park Jun-kyu. “I have no idea what I.SEOUL.U means.”

Another citizen Park Chang-won said, “It’s too abstract. I do not feel any Seoul with the slogan.”

The city government invested around 500 million won ($437,215) in research and development for the project, and another 300 million won for the slogan’s ceremonial event at Seoul Plaza, central Seoul, on Wednesday, where a total of 1,000 citizens participated in an on-the-spot poll for the slogan.

It plans to use another 1.5 billion won next year alone to promote the new slogan by replacing the previous slogan with it at many of the city’s facilities.