Monday, August 20, 2012

Pointing the Finger in Washington

You immediately thought of Washington, D.C. when you read the title of the post, didn't you? It's exactly this reaction that gives Washington State a complex. Natives always have to emphasize Washington STATE when they say where they're from. And until Seattle became a big deal, no one really gave much thought to Washington. But I can just imagine the brainstorming session at the Washington State Advertising Commission decades ago when they determined that postcards should be produced to showcase the beauty of Washington State and entice people to visit.

The commissioners all agreed that the postcards were a good idea, but some were worried that  people might be unable to identify the scenic attractions in the photos. After all, people from other states might not recognize nature when they saw it. The group then discussed superimposing big red arrows on the cards to highlight the Columbia River and surrounding scenic vistas, but after much brainstorming they decided that human subjects pointing at the scenic attractions would be equally effective and much more subtle. Brilliant.


Since marketing people know all about human preferences though, they also realized that some people just don't like nature all that much. Trees, water - so what! What could they do to attract the urban nature haters? They considered adding a bunch of girls in bikinis or a stock photo of a woman eating asparagus, a popular local crop. But since they were also trying to be family friendly, they all agreed that a young woman leaning on a car was a much better choice and something that both men and women could relate to.


These cards make me want to go to Washington and lean on a car right now!


10 comments:

  1. . . . and have some of the main characters wear red. Lovely postcards.

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  2. Sorry to disappoint them, after they thought so hard about it, but I am most interested in those old cars now! I love the wooden station wagon.

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  3. Hilarious! Who knew there would be enough fingers pointing to make it a theme!?

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  4. The wood-paneled car did kinda grab me. Asparagus would have done the same, though.

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  5. Hate to say it, but the woman behind the guy on the second card looks like she is pointing gun at his head, perhaps they should have positioned her beside him or had her point in another direction.... And is that Chief Seattle and a couple of warriors riding across the beach on the second card? Sort of reminds me of the 70's anti-littering ads with the crying Indian- "hey Kemosahbee, thanks for parking your fluids dripping auto on this nice beach"- which you can still do in Washington by the way, go figure.

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  6. From afar we have imagined pictures of US states. With some it is easy (California, New York, Texas)with others - such as Washington and your own Oregon) it is not so simple. It's time to travel.

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  7. That's the kind of scenic postcard I like--with people and cars.

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  8. I agree, the cars are beautiful. But why is the man pointing at the indians? The second card looks like Thelma and Louise in a hold-up robbing the poor man of his car.

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  9. I am one of those Washingtonians irked by having to specify "state." As for pointing, in DC land, they just point a finger, not the entire extended arm (imitating Sacajawea perhaps?). Did I say that!?

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