The official vision for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been unveiled, but its three-word slogan is already facing a wave of criticism from advertising professionals who have labelled it 'lazy' and 'weirdly evangelistic'.
A Vision Revealed Amidst Google Sermons
On Wednesday, organisers presented the Games vision: 'Believe. Belong. Become. Brisbane 2032'. The motto was launched following what Brisbane 2032 described as its largest consultation to date, involving more than 6,000 Australians and led by communication consultancy Rowlands.
However, a simple online search for the phrase 'believe, belong and become' on the day of the reveal would have yielded a very different context. The top results were not about sport, but faith, featuring sermons from pastors like TJ Mauldin of the First Baptist Church of Tifton, Georgia, and Mike Brown of the West Florida Baptist Church.
Only later, after algorithm adjustments, did the Olympic vision begin to appear prominently in search results, accompanied by a promotional video featuring Australian athletes like Paralympian Ellie Cole and sprinter Patrick Johnson.
Advertising Expert Delivers Scathing Verdict
Dee Madigan, a director at advertising agency Campaign Edge and a regular panellist on the ABC's Gruen, did not hold back in her assessment. She suggested the organisers had effectively stolen a common Christian school motto.
'I think they've stolen the school motto from pretty much every Christian school in the country!' Madigan told the Guardian. She criticised the vague and preachy nature of the slogan, particularly the word 'Become', questioning: 'Become what?!? Become someone stuck in a traffic queue? Become someone who is paying an inordinate amount of money for a bottle of water?'
While acknowledging the difficulty of creating a slogan pleasing to a multitude of stakeholders, Madigan concluded the effort was a failure. 'They have done a terrible job. It feels lazy and weirdly evangelistic,' she stated, calling it a missed opportunity to use Australian vernacular or humour.
Organisers Defend the Slogan's 'Significant Symbolism'
In stark contrast to the criticism, Brisbane 2032 president Andrew Liveris championed the new vision. He asserted that the three words carried deep meaning and would act as a guiding 'north star' for the delivery of the Games and the legacy beyond 2032.
'Our Games Vision has significant symbolism behind it, with the genesis of each word acting as our north star towards the delivery of our Games in 2032 and an exciting era beyond,' Liveris said in an official statement.
The debate places the Brisbane 2032 slogan in a curious historical context. It follows mottos like Beijing 2008's 'One World, One Dream', Paris 2024's 'Games Wide Open', and the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games' 'Passion. Connected'. Whether 'Believe. Belong. Become.' will inspire a nation or remain a point of contention is a question that will now play out in the eight-year lead-up to the Games.
