Keep Austin Weird: A Brief History of Austin's Slogan

By Spike Gillespie

February 05, 2010 at 1:00 PM

Ironically enough, bumper stickers and slogans urging you to Keep Austin Weird are quite the norm here. Librarian Red Wassenich coined the expression in 2000 when he uttered the word on-air while pledging money to local radio station KOOP. Liking the sound of those three words together, Wassenich and his wife printed up Keep Austin Weird bumper stickers, distributed them for free at local businesses, and suddenly they were everywhere.

The motto fit Austin for many reasons. For one thing, the city is a known liberal holdout in an otherwise proudly conservative state and, as such, receives more than a few exasperated eye rolls from outsiders. For another, lots of creative folks — musicians, artists, writers — call the city home.

Plus visual oddities abound here. It's not at all unusual to happen upon a unicyclist earnestly peddling down a major thoroughfare or find yourself being served by a waiter covered in tribal tattoos and piercings.

Early on, the slogan represented this anything-goes ideal, and was adopted by locally owned businesses in an effort to keep Austinites shopping locally rather than at chain stores.

The story of Keep Austin Weird itself got pretty weird in 2003 when Outhouse Designs trademarked the slogan and began printing it on T-shirts, mugs, and hats. Wassenich was effectively shut out of the process. More than a few critics pointed out that mass printing of the slogan rendered it utterly unweird. The T-shirts and bumper stickers became so ubiquitous that sporting one became one of the tamest (and lamest) things you can do in Austin.

Still, the shirts and other souvenirs stamped Keep Austin Weird remain readily available all over town and a favorite for tourists. Meanwhile, despite his unhappiness about being co-opted, Wassenich maintains the Keep Austin Weird Web site.