Saskatchewan's capital city leans into 'Experience Regina'
CBC
Experience Regina — it's a phrase that has been used to make fun of Saskatchewan's capital city for years.
Regina's name sounding similar to a word for genitalia helped a song about the city go viral. Now the city that rhymes with fun is attempting to own the joke, making the name of the song the new name of Regina's tourism organization.
"It is an opportunity. When you travel globally and people talk about it, there's a a moment of 'What's the city called again?'" said Tim Reid, CEO of Experience Regina.
"It just is what it is, so don't shy away from it. It is the city's name and we should be proud of it,"
The rebrand for the the organization previously known as Tourism Regina was unveiled on Thursday.
Reid and Mayor Sandra Masters were joined by Randy Boissonnault, the federal minister of tourism, as they premiered a music video covering a song that popularized the phrase "Experience Regina."
The original video was uploaded to YouTube in 2008 and has been watched nearly 700,000 times in the 14 years since.
Melody and Tim, the pseudonyms of two Americans, created the song after one of them took a road trip across Canada in 2008, according to the Regina Leader-Post.
Full of synths, a hypnotic off-key lyricist and featuring a video of various locations around Regina, the video went viral.
It saw a new wave of popularity in 2018 after Jimmy Fallon played the song on The Tonight Show, prompting laughs from Fallon's co-host, members of his band and its audience.
While its use brought attention to the song, even nabbing Fallon an invite to visit the city from then mayor-Michael Fougere, the city didn't seize the opportunity at the time.
One of the companies that did was Rebellion Brewing.
The Regina microbrewery has been making merchandise with the slogan since it took off on Fallon.
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