El Paso. It’s all good.

I know it’s impolite (maybe even unpatriotic to the point of treason) to be critical of the current regime in City Hall (where even the phrase City Hall is dated), but the newest slogan “It’s All Good” is just plain bad.

It’s All Good is a proper response to an apology. People say “It’s all good” after you apologize for your shortcomings.

“Sorry, we’re out of onion rings.”

“It’s all good. I’ll eat the fries.”

In this sense, it’s as though El Paso were the apology. El Paso. It’s all good.

Perhaps, at the edgy, disruptive, advertising firm where this originated, the conversation went something like this:

“I’m having a hard time coming up with a tagline for our new campaign.”

“It’s all good. It’s impolite to be critical.”

Besides the apologetic nature of the phrase, it does nothing to invoke El Paso’s unique nature. You can replace El Paso with the name of any other city and not change the meaning one iota.

“Scranton. It’s all good.”

“Pawtucket. It’s all good.”

So even if that forgettable catchphrase is remembered, its association with El Paso is not guaranteed, or even likely.

Maybe El Paso’s lackluster performance in the past wasn’t the result of the lack of a Triple A baseball team and a substantive tag line, as recent events suggest. Maybe the problem was the willingness of El Pasoans (and City Hall, whatever that means) to settle for mediocrity. And by adopting this worthless catchphrase, we’ve shown, once again, that our standards, and expectations, are low.

But hey. It’s El Paso. It’s all good.