Utah Speak

I think one of my favorite parts of coming to Utah is reading all the billboards between Salt Lake and Orem. You can learn a lot about Utah culture simply by analyzing the advertising strategies people use. First of all, about half of the billboards are urging you to buy your own home. Since buying a home is an important investment and the first step to that all-important self-reliance. You can't have a year's supply of food storage in an apartment. Also, you need a home for your large family. There's one company that specifically targets the stereotypical Utah family. Their billboards read "Two kids under five and twins on the way. Two tons of laundry. Our homes have extra-large laundry rooms." and "Eight kids. All girls. 164 pairs of shoes. All our homes have oversized closets."

Then there are the ads for modest clothing, BYU football tickets, wedding dresses, and even the ad for a traffic website that pictures a girl in a wedding dress and says "accurate information to get you to the church on time" (I surprised they didn't say "get you to the temple on time"). I also love the one for the home improvement company that says "A happy wife is a happy life". Underneath that line, it advertises their low rates on granite counter tops. Since the best way to improve your marriage is to spend large amounts of money on remodeling your home.

The one you would never see in Seattle is the guy who calls himself the "free capitalist" and vows that his mission is to "annoy the socialists". He probably wouldn't like any of the bumper stickers I see in Seattle on a daily basis. They tend to say things like "More trees, less Bush". "Wal Mart: American Values Made in China", or my personal favorite, "Who would Jesus Bomb?". I don't think you're going to see that on a billboard in Utah any time soon.