City draws on colonial history for road safety campaign
City draws on colonial history in road safety campaign
Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com
The Ville de Québec is using a catchy, if not controversial, theme in its newly unveiled street safety awareness campaign.
With the slogan Être colon sur la route, c’est dépassé!, the city launched the campaign on July 16 in Place de Paris in the Old City. The slogan plays on an amusing pair of homonyms in Quebec French. The word colon literally means “colonist” and refers to the first French settlers in New France, many of whom were poorly educated soldiers and indentured servants. In local parlance, a colon is an ill-mannered, unsophisticated, classless or ignorant person; the word can also be an adjective referring to ignorant, rude or sloppy behaviour – for example, “C’est colon de laisser tes déchets par terre.” (“It’s ignorant to leave your trash on the ground.”) The city’s slogan translates more or less to “Acting ignorant on the road is a thing of the past.”
In a release, the city said, “While the message is irreverent and striking, it also sends a clear message to the public: risky behaviour on the road no longer has a place.”
Actors in period costumes were on site to unveil the series of slogans to be “visible on various digital platforms, billboards, and radio to ensure broad reach to as many road users as possible.”
The campaign is to run from July 21 to mid-September.
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