West Virginia
West Virginia's governor launches new tourism campaign countering Appalachian hillbilly stereotypes
Plagued by the widely publicized 'hillbilly' image, as in recent ABC documentary "Children of the Mountain," West Virginian governor Joe Manchin III has authorized a multimillion dollar marketing campagin aimed at restoring the state's reputation.
West Virginian tourism campagin attacts visitors with new slogan and spokesperson
After changing interstate welcome signs with the old slogan "Wild and Wonderful" to the interim tagline "Open for Business," designed to promote the state's low unemployement rates and spur economic development, the signs along highways leading into the Mountain state were once again changed earlier this year to "Wild, Wonderful West Virginia" to reflect the results of an online poll of West Virginian citizens.
Also part of the tourism redevelopment project, the West Virginia Department of Commerce conducted a state-wide search for its new "Come Home to West Virginia" spokesperson. On March 10, 2009, corporate and finance laywer Amy King, of Charleston, WV, was selected as the representative face of West Virginia's demographic to the rest of the country. Ms. King, with her professional education and career, sparkling white smile and excellent articlulation, is the polar opposite of the toothless, uneducated slack-jawed persona perpetuated in popular media.
Comments
Post new comment