WTF? Novelty Stickers Stir Debate in Colorado Town

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CITY OF FRUITA / FRUITA.ORG

It all began with a simple sticker.

Steve and Denise Hight printed 500 stickers with the slogan “WTF” in bold letters and “Welcome to Fruita” in smaller type underneath. For fun, the couple distributed the stickers to area businesses. They were so popular that within two days the Hights were receiving calls for more, the Grand Junction Sentinel reports.

That got some city officials thinking, and they contacted the Hights about a possible tourism campaign for the town, popular with mountain bikers, near the Utah border. The City of Fruita’s website posted two versions of the WTF campaign, asking residents to weigh in.

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Apparently some residents of Fruita, Colo. don’t want their marketing campaigns with an expletive on the side. Emails and phone calls flooded in, with many offended by the crude language. The slogan also has supporters, councilman Bruce Bonar told the newspaper “It’s edgy. It grabs people’s attention, particularly people who think about things.”

Steve Hight doesn’t seem troubled by the kerfuffle. “This wasn’t meant to be an advertising campaign. It was meant to be a fun thing,” he told the newspaper. He and his wife, authors of a photo book dedicated to the town, ordered an additional 1,000 stickers and plan to give them away to local businesses. After that, they have no plans to continue.