Pure Michigan indeed

By Mark | January 9, 2013

I went off on a rant last night about how shortsighted and stupid it was for the administration in Lansing to politicize the widely-celebrated Pure Michigan campaign by using it to proudly promote their recent union-busting activities in a high-profile, full-page in the Wall Street Journal. And, apparently, I struck a nerve. Deadline Detroit and MLive have both since joined the chorus of the disgusted, and I just heard from the Huffington Post that they’ll be writing something as well. And, more importantly, the wildly creative readers of this website have gotten engaged. As evidence of this fact, I offer the following additions to the newly politicized Pure Michigan campaign. The first comes from former Michigander Ken Boyd. The last comes from Ypsilanti’s Emily Mills. And the others come from readers who… because they fear reprisals… wish to remain anonymous. If you have ideas of your own, please load them up to Imgur and leave a link in the comments section.

update: Eclectablog and the Huffington Post are now on the case as well.

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31 Comments

  1. Mr. X
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 9:03 am | Permalink

    Can someone make one with a coat hanger?

  2. Edward
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 9:24 am | Permalink

    There needs to be one with those girls being arrested at the Catherine Ferguson Academy as well.

  3. Bob Krzewinski
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 10:19 am | Permalink

    This brings to mind the Utah Phillips/Ani DiFranco album titled “The Past Didn’t Go Anywhere”. How true. Just now the union-beating goons are more “sophisticated” in their tactics.

  4. Site Admin
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 10:36 am | Permalink

    Your prayers have been answered, Mr. X. A new piece was just submitted and added to the post.

  5. anon
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 10:41 am | Permalink

    http://imgur.com/azMbb

  6. anon
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 11:58 am | Permalink

    http://imgur.com/P6evX

  7. anon
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 12:45 pm | Permalink

    http://imgur.com/o8rz0

  8. Lynne
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 12:54 pm | Permalink

    Those are great. I want to share them on facebook, especially the Pure Misogyny coat hangar one. :)

  9. Meta
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 1:08 pm | Permalink

    The Huffington Post piece is out.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/10/pure-michigan-right-to-work-ad-wall-street-journal_n_2447985.html

  10. Site Admin
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 1:12 pm | Permalink

    More images have been added to the post. I especially liked the one of the men dancing with the tired wolves.

  11. eem
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 1:34 pm | Permalink

    http://imgur.com/hNiVA

  12. anonymous
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 1:56 pm | Permalink

    Can I ask a stupid question? How are you all making these? Do you need Photoshop, or is there some kind of online resource?

  13. eem
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 3:02 pm | Permalink

    If you don’t have Photoshop you can download a free trail on their website or Pixlr.com is a decent *free* online photo editor.

  14. Eel
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 3:30 pm | Permalink

    I want to dance with a wolf until it’s exhausted!

  15. Mark
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 7:23 pm | Permalink

    If you guys are taking requests, my friend Marcia says that she’d like to see one about Dick Devos and pyramid schemes.

  16. Mark
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 7:27 pm | Permalink

    Also, my friend Andy forward this link. It will take you to a Humane Society petition to protect Michigan’s wolves. Here’s what it says.

    With fewer than 700 wolves left in the state, Michigan’s wolf population is only now starting to recover from the brink of extinction. Wolves have been on the protected list in Michigan for nearly 50 years. But sadly, Michigan state politicians just signed a bill allowing wolves to be hunted, putting the fragile wolf population in danger once more.

    It’s not right to spend decades bringing the wolf back from the brink of extinction only to turn around and allow them to be killed for sport.

    Keep Michigan Wolves Protected is seeking to collect more than 225,000 signatures of Michigan voters to place a referendum on the ballot in 2014 that would allow voters to choose whether or not to enact the legislature’s wolf hunting law.

  17. ypsijav
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 7:27 pm | Permalink

    I’m not completely satisfied with the explanation that those men are dancing with those sleepy non-endangered wolves.

  18. anon
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 7:30 pm | Permalink

    those wolves are dead. killed by whuss fucks in the u.p.

  19. Mark
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 7:33 pm | Permalink

    I think that was sarcasm, YpsiJav. No one really thought that they were just tired of dancing.

    These men should be fed to Michigan’s 700 remaining wolves.

  20. Billy
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 8:13 pm | Permalink

    Ted Nugent moved to Texas…let’s not remind anyone that he used to live here, eh?

  21. Mark
    Posted January 10, 2013 at 9:58 pm | Permalink

    Our friends at Eclectablog are getting in on the act.

  22. kjc
    Posted January 11, 2013 at 4:17 pm | Permalink

    MEDC responds (annoyingly).

    http://blog.michiganadvantage.org/economic-development/marketing-michigan-business-strengths/

  23. anon
    Posted January 11, 2013 at 5:11 pm | Permalink

    http://imgur.com/51JC2

  24. Mark
    Posted January 11, 2013 at 9:24 pm | Permalink

    Amway conference!

  25. madmatthew
    Posted January 12, 2013 at 12:07 am | Permalink

    My favorite bit of irony about Pure Michigan is that it is backed by the soothing voice of Tim Allen, the comedian. Who got busted as a Western Michigan University student for being a courier of a lot of coke, and I mean A LOT of coke, when he still went by his real name, Timothy Allen Dick. Had Mr. Dick been charged under Michigan’s Orwellian “drug kingpin lifer law,” he would have been sentenced to life without parole in our lovely state prison system. But lucky for Mr. Dick, it was a federal bust, so he did only a few years in a federal pen. Where he discovered that one way to keep one’s anal virginity was to be funny. And so began his comedy career. It’s a funny world, it really is. I just wonder how many other people who could make something special of their lives are wasting away under our stupid drug lifer law. Just imagine a world without Home Improvement or The Santa Clause. Okay, maybe a bad example, but still.

  26. Oliva
    Posted January 13, 2013 at 8:50 am | Permalink

    I think one of the men with the wolves should be the dreary, demonic governor, The ads are all so good, thank you. (Keep ’em coming?!) And we MUST unseat Snyder in 2014.

  27. Michael Finney
    Posted January 13, 2013 at 9:05 am | Permalink

    Dear Oliva and others,

    Leave your ideas for concepts here, and I will have our team mock them up.

    Purely,
    Mike

  28. anon
    Posted January 13, 2013 at 1:03 pm | Permalink

    http://imgur.com/vlFuV

  29. Bob
    Posted January 15, 2013 at 6:39 am | Permalink

    I like the one with the pension-taxed guy having his lunch of a dixie cup of water and a catfood sandwich.

    Priceless.

  30. Demetrius
    Posted May 18, 2013 at 10:11 am | Permalink

    Nothing says “Pure Michigan” quite like our state’s largest city being used as a dumping ground for extremely toxic by-products from Alberta’s dirty tar-sands oil production — at a site right beside the Detroit River — the source of much of our region’s drinking water. For bonus points, this mess is owned by none other than the Koch brothers!

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/18/business/energy-environment/mountain-of-petroleum-coke-from-oil-sands-rises-in-detroit.html

    (Couldn’t make this up if I tried … )

  31. Robert
    Posted May 18, 2013 at 3:19 pm | Permalink

    “Pure Manipulation” with a photo of the GOP state legislature rushing through the right-to-work bill through might be an idea.

    How about “Pure Cronyism” with a photo of Snyder, the state legislature, and their corporate owners?

    “Pure Wimp”, with a picture of Snyder would be another accurate one.

8 Trackbacks

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    […] of this site who plans to show up at tomorrow’s lecture with the intention of spreading our ever-evolving Pure Michigan meme.Here’s a fun fact… The state of Michigan, for those of you who don’t already […]

  2. By Who speaks for the wolves of Michigan? We do. on May 4, 2013 at 8:05 am

    […] Michigan tourism ad was produced by one of this site's readers back in January, as part of our Pure Michigan parody campaign.] This entry was posted in Environment, Michigan and tagged Aldo Leopold, Beezy's, book making, […]

  3. By Oily, environmentally toxic pyramid of greed being erected in Detroit by the Koch brothers on May 19, 2013 at 8:24 pm

    […] to a comment left by Demetrius, suggesting that we take the opportunity to tie this story to our satirical Pure Michigan campaign.] This entry was posted in Detroit, Environment, Uncategorized and tagged Ambassador Bridge, Andy […]

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    […] [note: The above Michigan tourism ad was produced by one of this site's readers back in January, as part of our Pure Michigan parody campaign.] […]

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    […] This is the most fund I’ve had since we did our Pure Michigan campaign. […]

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    […] [The image at the top of the page, if it’s not familiar, is from our 2013 Pure Michigan campaign.] […]

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