Slogan contest showed good will and humour

A little story about the unofficial slogan competition at the University of Tampere resulted in surprisingly many suggestions in just a few weeks: 219 proposals, 74 of which were in Finnish and 145 in English. Thank you to all participants!

The slogans were judged by a panel consisting of Juha Suoranta, Director of the School of Education , Päivi Pahta, Professor of English Philology, Pirita Ruokonen, Head of Communications in the Student Union of the University of Tampere and Heikki Laurinolli, the Editor-in-chief of Aikalainen. The panel stated that the active participation in the competition told about the good will and enthusiasm of the members of the university community. The slogans were positive and some of them had a very nice touch. It was thought problematic that some of the especially English-language suggestions could not be associated strongly enough with Tampere. The panel thought that no slogan was winning material and it ended up awarding honorable mention and Fairtrade products to six suggestions.

The panel was not absolutely serious in its judging but spent time thinking and reflecting about the slogans. The panel thought that many suggestions contained a promising start which can be worked into excellent mottos for the university.

– It is great that we have good and funny slogans which can give rise to even contradictory images and which we can be put on the side of a coffee mug, for example. In the discussion around the slogan competition it was suggested that the University of Tampere should have products with a retro vibe to which a humorous slogan would fit – it is good to laugh at oneself sometimes.

Honourable mentions

The following slogans caught the panel's attention and the panel hopes that these suggestions will be developed further.

In English:

Mind does matter

"This could be made use of, cf. size does matter."

Fit for Future

"This refers to gym equipment but it could fit the university too."

University of Tampere – University of Twin Lake City

 "Rare because it includes reference to the local area."

In Finnish:

Tekee asiaa ihmisistä

"In the last analysis this was the panel's favourite.”

Näsijärven norsunluutori

"Reminescent of the sketch show Kummelit, this could be printed on a cup, humorous."

Päätalosta Linnaan

"Narrow, really local."

Fairtrade products  

The six suggestions that received honourable mention were awarded fair trade products. In addition, a lot was drawn for ten Fairtrade goodie bags among all the participants. All winners have been personally contacted.

For further information please contact
Katja Kannonlahti, Head of Communications
katja.kannonlahti@uta.fi