Wisconsin Tourism Federation
alerted to its own acronym

Mike Paulus |

Hey, speaking of Wisconsin tourism logos – it’s official – WTF has become TFW. Never heard of the Wisconsin Tourism Federation (WTF)? Before today, neither had I. The newly named Tourism Federation of Wisconsin (TFW) is “a lobbying coalition of trade and promotional associations and organizations actively involved in Wisconsin's tourism industry.” So, what the frak are they doing changing their name? I’ll let the United Kingdom’s Telegraph explain:

  • The body charged with attracting more visitors to the midwestern state will now be known as the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin (TFW), in an attempt to put a stop to the jokes.
  • It seems that the federation was unaware of - or unconcerned by - the modern meaning of WTF until its acronym featured on a blog that compiles unfortunate corporate logos earlier this year.
  • Commenters wondered whether an expression of foul-mouthed astonishment was the best way of boosting tourism to a state that would not be an obvious choice for most holidaymakers.

The federation held its WTF moniker since its inception in 1979, but the times, they have a-changed. I haven’t been able to track down to logo blog mentioned in the story. Let me know if you can.