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Show (Ly(gflaDps By Brian Gray Two weeks ago some Utahns were inflamed by a "TV Guide" radio commercial which supposedly insulted our state. "It's atypical East Coast mindset," said an enraged Chamber of Commerce spokesperson. Now it seems we're having trouble with the West Coast mindset, too. Utah officials are protesting a front-page article in the "Los Angeles Times" (and reprinted in other major daily newspapers) portraying the Salt Lake City area as a dull "Perry Como kind of place." "Unfair!" shouted Salt Lake City Mayor Palmer DePauli-s... DePauli-s... "Irresponsible journalism!" cried the president of the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors' Bureau. But I disagree. I think the publicity is wonderful... And that's what I told the caller. "Let's face it," I said. "The publicity could be much worse. The commercial and the story could have featured Sen. Jack Bangerter (Rep-Bountiful) asking that AIDS victims be painted red and banished to a desert island. Compared to Bangerter's statements, the publicity for Utah is glowing." ! "How can you say that?" said the caller. "The 'TV GUIDE' commercial spoke about a man running for dogcatcher and who is now running a strong second in the Utah presidential primary. That makes us sound stupid." I "It depends on how you view it," I replied. "A person might figure Utahns are supporting a dogcatcher instead of Orrin Hatch. That person will think Utahns have finally come to their senses." "But it's not just the TV commercial," said the caller. "The newspaper article was an insult, comparing us with Perry Como." ' "Oh, I think that's great," I replied. "Perry Como is a soothing, sooth-ing, placid guy the perfect image for a vacation spot. San Francisco has done well with Tony Bennett... Maybe' Perry Como can do the same for us. We should invite him to place his footprint in the cement at Temple Square." "But the article also said Salt Lake City was one of the toughest cities for which to recruit corporate executives. That's bad publicity." "No, that's good publicity. The last thing we need is a bunch of high-tech Yuppies flooding into our state. The fishing has already gone to pot." "And what about the part in the story that says there are no discarded beer cans in sight." , "Now that's great publicity. No one has ever booked a vacation vaca-tion to see a bunch of dented beer cans. If I wanted to see trash, I'd visit New Jersey." "But the article compared the Salt Lake area to the Soviet Union!" "Right and that's good, too. We get so much negative publicity pub-licity on our liquor laws. It's good to be compared to the vodka capital of the world. Everyone knows that the Russians are tanked up every single night." "And the article even mentioned us having one of the largest homosexual communities in the West!" "Well, I admit that's not great publicity for a tourist destination. destina-tion. But it does show we offer diversity!" "So you really think the negative publicity is good for us?" "Sure. A relaxing place where Perry Como can be heard on elevators...A law-abiding place where no one jaywalks.. .A vibrant vib-rant place where vodka can be served but beer cans are not littered about... A place where religious books sell better than romance novels... Gee, I think the Utah Travel Council should pay to have the article reprinted in national travel magazines." "But what about Sen. Jack Bangerter's comment on AIDS victims? ....... "Now that's the type of thing we should hush up!" |