UPDATE: Jeffco residents will get the joke:
—–
The spectacular mountain vistas we enjoy as residents of the great state of Colorado are some of the most popular visual symbols used in advertising–from Coors beer bottles to the iconic silhouette of the Rockies that has decorated our state’s license plates for many decades. And of course, Colorado politicians make regular use of Colorado mountains as a backdrop or other visual subject in their own advertisements and literature.
In our over a decade of covering Colorado politics, one of the more embarrassing gaffes we’ve seen committed by political campaigns is the appropriation of mountains not located in Colorado for use in Colorado political materials. Back in 2008, U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer was lampooned ferociously after a TV spot substituted Alaska’s Mount McKinley for Pikes Peak. Other big-name candidates from Scott McInnis to Bob Beauprez have similarly been taken to task in major media for screwing this up, not to mention the Colorado Republican Party and right-wing message group Citizens United. It’s always our hope when this happens that the resulting ridicule will encourage the next election cycle’s graphic designers to, you know, be more careful.
Unfortunately, it’s too late for Colorado’s most competitive state senate race! Here’s the “walk piece” being used by Sen. Laura Waters Woods’ campaign in swing SD-19, sent to us this past weekend:
That’s a lovely alpine lake and range of mountains Sen. Woods is standing in front of, isn’t it? A shot right out of a tourism brochure, right? We’d love to take a weekend drive to this beauty spot.
Unfortunately, it would take just about the whole weekend to get there, because it’s not in America. The lake and mountain range Sen. Woods is depicted in front of is in fact located in Alberta, Canada’s Banff National Park.
This isn’t the first time Banff, Canada’s mountains have been substituted for Colorado mountains, in fact the Citizens United movie Rocky Mountain Heist we noted above used either the exact same photo or one very similar for the video’s cover. But for proud Colorado locals who know our mountains well, this really is a major insult to our collective intelligence. There are so many authentic Coloradan picturesque mountain ranges that political graphic designers could use, from the Maroon Bells to the Sneffels Range to the Indian Peaks within easy sight of Denver. Why fake the beauty of Colorado?
In a race as close as Woods’ is expected to be, don’t make unforced errors like this.
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I saw the subject line and clicked through the jump to see the photo. First thought, without even reading the text? "They did it again! Those aren't our mountains They're brown!" They pay people to produce these ads and they can't even come up with the right CG background? How much stock footage of The Colorado Rocky Mountains exists? And to think, they want us to let them handle the state's or country's money when this is how they spend campaign cash?
Can't she at least have a volunteer check before she gives the go ahead to print this stuff up? I just ordered a plaque and I requested a proof before green lighting production. It's not that hard.
I love her claim that if re-elected she would only serve four more years in the Senate. Uhh, Woodsie, that happens to be a state law!
Just because she's forced to do it doesn't mean it isn't true!
The old 'double negative '.
'…does mean it is true'
It's a saying – grammar sticklers need not apply.
Canada has unique and spectacular mountain scenery . . .
. . . I hope more Colorado Teapublicans get motivated to move there!
I hope she printed thousands of these. Oops!
pretty shameful……but not as shameful as claiming there were
as Rudy Giuliani has — more than once. Depends on the meaning of "successful", I guess.
The rolled up collar of her fleece and artfully wind-blown hair are nice touches, too. Makes it look as if she is a real outdoorsy type.
Shouldn't we be expecting another home-delivery of a Nothing Burger 12-pack by our resident Drumpf loyalist Moddy? This keeps up another 80 days and we'll all be two sizes bigger by the day we elect our first woman POTUS.
He's likely swamped reviewing and approving GOPer ad copy . . .
Who do you think cares about this, really? No one but bored political hacks.
That, and people who write about politics, who influence the broader electorate. Is it really so hard to ask your ad people to find a picture that represents your district? The fact that the campaign can't be bothered to do that shows either a lack of respect for the district, or a lack of knowledge. And that's the kind of thing that gets reflected in candidate write-ups.
Why this isn't automatic review bullet point number one on every single ad piece for a Colorado candidate I have no idea.
Oh – and Wood's district contains ZERO mountains. Couldn't she have settled for a picture from Two Ponds NWR or Standley Lake, or maybe some shot from one of the western district open spaces in her district that afforded a panoramic of mountains in the background?
That's it? That is the POLS best shot at the Senator? Some pictures? Please. A better picture would have been comparing the crowds in front of the respective tents at the Westy Festival this past weekend. That would paint the true course of this election.
Do you have them?
Is she running for governor?
JoeStein: wake me up when Senator Woods changes her stance on abortion and contraception; how odd for an alleged supporter of small government like Woods to support big government intrusion into the personal and private lives of citizens.
Conservative Head Banger ( AC/DC Rules ! )
p.s. I'm proud to be a RAT (Republican Against Trump)
Did you really just invite Pols to attack your candidate?
I hope they take you up on it.
BTW…The use of mountains from another country in a political ad says one of two things about the candidate, Joe…either she is thoughtless and uneducated or doesn't give a shit about her state and her campaign….which is it in her case? I don't know her, but I think I am about to find out a lot more about her.
My guess is, someone thought those were the Maroon Bells.
Funny aside here…… some 25 years ago, friends brought me a restaurant placemat from a Phoenix restaurant, that I still have. Caption is Maroon Bells, Colorado. Picture, however, is the Mount Sneffels and golden aspen shot from Dallas Divide.
Well, no. That's not our best shot. We can also show that Laura Woods blamed "the Left" when some Northside Bloods tagged her yard signs. That was fun, too.
Then there was Nancy Cronk exposing Wood's blatant lies while canvassing.
And then Republicans polled Laura Woods district to see if anybody else was more viable as a candidate. That one was really a gem.
But Dems and "the Left" don't really do as much damage to Woods reputation as she does herself – posting insane crap (turn George Soros over to the Russians for a bounty) on her Facebook page, for example. She is truly her own worst enemy. All Pols has to do is print what Woods puts out.
Her legislative record is mixed – there are some bills I'm happy with; one that provides programs for juveniles in prison, for example. There's another which appears to make it more difficult to get a divorce, adding in an additional step after arbitration of a dissolution of marriage. This would fit Woods' evangelical "pro-marriage" stance.
You can tell we're getting close to September. The trolls have reappeared.