Keep Austin Weird

{{short description|Unofficial slogan of Austin, Texas}}

Keep Austin Weird is a slogan coined by Red Wassenich in 2000 while giving a pledge to "The Lounge Show", a quirky, eclectic radio show on an Austin radio station KOOP Radio.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-01 |title=What’s the origin behind the ‘Keep Austin Weird’ slogan? |url=https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/whats-the-origin-behind-the-keep-austin-weird-slogan/ |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=KXAN Austin |language=en-US}}{{cite news|url=http://www.northjersey.com/travel/destinations_us/118728504_Can_Austin_stay_weird_.html |title=Can Austin stay weird? It was originated in Oregon in 1983 and later adopted by |first=Joe |last=Yonan |work=Washington Post |date=March 27, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104105819/http://www.northjersey.com/travel/destinations_us/118728504_Can_Austin_stay_weird_.html?page=all |archive-date=November 4, 2013 }} He began printing bumper stickers in July 2000 and operated the website keepaustinweird.com until his death in 2020{{cite news |title=Austin Journal; A Slogan Battle Keeps Austin Weird |first=Jim |last=Yardley |work=The New York Times |date=December 8, 2002 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/08/us/austin-journal-a-slogan-battle-keeps-austin-weird.html}} and published Keep Austin Weird: A Guide to the Odd Side of Town.{{cite book |title=Keep Austin Weird: A Guide to the Odd Side of Town |first=Red |last=Wassenich |year=2007 |publisher=Schiffer Books |isbn=978-0764326394}} The slogan was used

The slogan was later adopted by the Austin Independent Business Alliance to promote small businesses in Austin, Texas.

Despite a challenge from Wassenich, the slogan was later trademarked by Outhouse Designs and used to market T-shirts, hats, and mugs.{{cite news |title=Austin Journal; "Keep Austin Weird" Originator Remembered for Choosing Community Over Capital |first=Francesca |last=D'Annuzio |publisher=The Austin Chronicle |date=March 6, 2020 |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2020-03-06/keep-austin-weird-originator-remembered-for-choosing-community-over-capital/}}{{Cite news|first=Alexis |last=Kanter |url=http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2004/09/09/Focus/Keep-Austin.Weird-713824.shtml |title=Keep Austin Weird? |work=The Daily Texan |date=September 9, 2004 |access-date=March 16, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050308045910/http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2004/09/09/Focus/Keep-Austin.Weird-713824.shtml |archive-date=March 8, 2005 }}{{Cite journal |title=Structures of justice |journal=UU World |date=August 15, 2005 |first=Warren R. |last=Ross |volume=XIX |issue=3 |page=1 |url=http://www.uuworld.org/life/articles/1805.shtml |access-date=September 11, 2007}} Other cities have since mimicked the nickname, including Portland in 2003, Louisville in 2005,{{cite web | url=http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2015/02/09/weird-birthday-bash-planned-alliance/23142063/ | title=Group to celebrate Keeping Louisville Weird | publisher=The Courier-Journal | date=16 Feb 2015 | access-date=August 26, 2016 | author=Sheldon S. Shafer}} and Indianapolis in 2013.{{cite news |last=Anthony |first=Cara |url=http://www.indystar.com/story/life/2014/10/13/keep-movement-catches-indy/17184777/ |title='The Keep' movement catches on in Indy |work=IndyStar |date=October 13, 2014 |access-date=December 26, 2014}}

A 2010 book on the topic, Weird City: Sense of Place and Creative Resistance in Austin, Texas,{{cite book |last=Long |first=Joshua |year=2010 |title=Weird City: Sense of Place and Creative Resistance in Austin, Texas |publisher=University of Texas Press}} discusses the cultural evolution of the "Keep Austin Weird" movement as well as its commercialization and socio-political significance.{{cite news |last=Kelso |first=John |url=http://www.statesman.com/news/local/its-weird-social-science-thesis-on-austin-now-675088.html |title=It's Weird Social Science: Thesis on Austin now a book |work=Austin American Statesman |date=May 6, 2010}}{{cite news |last=Dunbar |first=Wells |url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/issue/story?oid=oid%3A1036776 |title=Viva la Resistance |work=Austin Chronicle |date=June 4, 2010}} The origins of Austin's unique culture have been claimed to be the product of unusually cheap housing prices following the end of a housing boom in the 1980s, combined with the location of the University of Texas at Austin in the city.{{Cite web|last=Yglesias|first=Matthew|date=2018-09-28|title=Austin can’t stay weird|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/28/17913984/austin-cant-stay-weird|access-date=2020-12-30|website=Vox|language=en}}