Promotions • December 29th, 2008

Skyline envy?

by Chris Lato

Oops! Using the Minneapolis skyline on a Wisconsin government website is obviously a really big error in judgment – almost as shocking as the $1 million pricetag being doled out to some out-of-state company for said website.

Let that be a lesson to politicos out there – keep a close eye on those developing your collateral materials for you. Few things send out a worse, more out-of-touch message than such errors in graphics, misspellings, failure to add disclaimers, etc.

It reminds me of another, similar error on a prominent Wisconsin politician’s website several years back (he is Republican but will otherwise remain nameless – those with strong institutional memories will piece it together). This politician had image problems, was seen as out of touch and not up to the job he was running for.

Then came the website for said candidate, which featured mountains in its banner. Unfortunately, Rib Mountain is the closest we come to a mountain in Wisconsin. The gaffe did not go over very well with critics looking for more ammo.

A minor issue, sure, but was used as just another example of this candidate not being ready for prime time. It sent an unfortunate message at a time when he was struggling to prove himself ready to lead. Every little bit helps…or in this case, hurts.

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