SayWhew!

It took 18 months to come up with a new tourism slogan for the state of Washington. It took six months to kill it.

Rest in pieces.

Yes, the “SayWA!” motto that was introduced in March and captured the imagination of nobody has been flushed by the state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.

The $442,000 marketing campaign designed to put that saying on the lips of tourists everywhere has already circled the drain.

It would’ve been easier to sell a tax increase to Tim Eyman, who, by the way, is probably revving up a fundraising pitch to decry this expenditure.

Meanwhile, the University of Idaho is looking to change its current slogan, “From Here You Can Go Anywhere.” Luckily, they didn’t go to “SayIDA.”

No, instead, after spending more than 100 hours interviewing 3,000 people, the school’s consultant produced “Open Space. Open Minds.”

The campaign to produce and sell this slogan has a budget of $900,000.

The university’s consultant actually came up with several options, all of which are superior to “SayWA.” With that in mind, we recommend the state of Washington swipe one.

For instance, “Out There. In Here.” Or, “Don’t Fence Me In,” which has a nice Eastern Washington flavor. Or, “Visualize … The Art of the Possible.”

OK, so maybe those are better suited to academia.

The U.S. Army just dumped its slogan. How about: “A Washington Of One”? Probably too close to that “One Washington” motto legislators love to ignore.

But there are still cheap – even free – alternatives out there. We simply cannot afford to give this task to the same overpaid professionals who burped up “SayWA.” With the help of a Web site called The Advertising Slogan Generator and too much caffeine, there are these:

“”I Scream You Scream We All Scream for Washington.”

“”Good To The Last Raindrop.”

“”Snap! Crackle! Washington!”

“”Too Good To Hurry.”

“”Break Me Off A Piece Of That Washington.”

“”Every Kiss Begins In Washington.”

“”Washington, Take Me Away.”

“”It’s How Fun is Done.”

“”My Goodness. My Washington.”

“”Splash Washington All Over You!”

“”Wake the Washington in You.”

“”Just Add Washington.”

“”Live in Your Washington. Play in Ours.”

“”The Bigger Apple.”

“”Can’t Beat the Wheat.”

“”More Than a Needle.”

“”Washington: Where Slogans Come to Die.”

If you don’t like those, try your own. After all, this brand is your brand.