SYDNEY — It sounded like the perfect phrase to sum up the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, words that would tell the world what makes the place special.
But "Where the Heart Is," the phrase coined by Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, wasn't liked by anyone else. "I'd run that by people and they'd say, 'Huh?' " Romney recalled.
So, he turned to an old friend from Boston, Gordon Bowen, for help.
It was Bowen who came up with the phrase that Romney and other Salt Lake Organizing Committee leaders believe will be a winner: "Light the Fire Within."
Well, sort of.
The former advertising executive who advised Romney in his run for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts actually suggested "Ignite the Fire Within."
"We struggled with the word, 'ignite,' " Romney said, because it sounded too technical for a phrase that will be used from now until 2002 to stir up sentiment for the Games.
Even after changing "ignite" to "light," though, there was still more work to be done before the theme could be made public. It took lawyers eight months to sort out the rights to the phrase.
"Light the Fire Within" is actually owned by Franklin-Covey, the Utah company known for its day planners. Gurus, a restaurant at Ninth and Ninth (South and East) in Salt Lake City, uses a similar phrase.
That's because the casual eatery's founders used to work at Franklin-Covey, Romney said. They'll get to keep using "Ignite the Fire Within" on staff uniforms.
SLOC has permission from both Franklin-Covey and Gurus to use its phrase through 2002. However, the phrase can't be used by corporate Games sponsors.
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