Area Citizen's Complaint Leads to Changes In State Ad Campaign

IRONWOOD, MI - Wednesday, July 29, 2009 - On Saturday, July 25, 2009 we featured a story about a Plymouth, Michigan company that was promoting a new "Michigan Made" campaign. The company wants to make it easy for consumers to recognize, at a glance, which products are grown or produced in Michigan.  The graphic to the left shows the current logo for the campaign.

It was this logo that prompted Ironwood citizen Ken Jacobson to send an email complaint to the company as well as the following letter to the editor to the Chronicle:

Think Michigan? HAH. More like think lower Michigan, as usual. Typically the image of the Upper Peninsula is significantly reduced and seems to almost be crowded in as an afterthought. I will encourage everyone I know to NOT use these insulting stickers which clearly promote ONLY the lower peninsula. As usual the UP and its residents are treated as an annoyance at best. Too bad when one considers it would have been a good opportunity to help unite the state. Instead it's just more of the same old story. Where's the new Ted Albert when we need him?

Ken Jacobson
Ironwood, MI

Yesterday, Ken Jacobson contacted the Chronicle to let us know that he got a response from the company. Chris Autterson, Vice President of the Michigan Tape Company apologized for offending Jacobson:

"We are sorry if our graphic offended you." Autterson wrote, "When we design logos and graphics it is viewed more as an Art form than an accurate 'map like' depiction of what we’re drawing. We realize the UP is not to scale, however, it was not an deliberate attempt to minimize the UP’s importance to Michigan’s economy or history, either geographically or historically."

Autterson continued, "What we’re doing is an important thing to help boost Michigan’s economy. Buying Michigan Made products and keeping our money circulating within our States borders is something we can all easily do by spending at least $10 per week on Michigan Made products. The initiative itself is far more important than the geographical accuracy of our Made in Michigan sticker. People see the image as Michigan ... Not as a denunciation of the Upper Peninsula."

"I sincerely hope that you can come to understand our agendas important purpose and that you will change your mind about denouncing our program and spreading that word. It helps all of us in Michigan ... both peninsulas." Autterson wrote.

When the company contacted the this reporter regarding Jacobson's complaint, I provided them with a little background information regarding conflicts between the Upper Peninsula and the "mit." I explained how the U.P. has traditionally been ignored by Lansing, and I explained how the "official" State maps often neglected to even feature the Upper Peninsula. When the maps did include the U.P., it was never to scale; it aways appeared to be "added in" at the last moment; and it never appeared to be part of Michigan.

When they repeated the statement that "People see the image as Michigan... Not as a denunciation of the Upper Peninsula," I said the statement would be true if four words were added... "People in the Lower Peninsula see the image as Michigan..." I made it very clear that many people in the U.P. will be insulted. I explained that several of our readers had already sent complaints and voiced concerns.

Yesterday evening the Chronicle received the following email from the company:

Jim,

We are seriously considering making new plates to more accurately depict the Upper Peninsula. Both me and the President of our organization didn't catch the scale issue until you and another gentleman, Ken Jacobson, from Ironwood, pointed it out.

As this program heats up, we'll have some additional funds to pay for the new plates and the revised logo. When we get that done, you will definitely be the first to know, along with Ken. Again, we're sorry for the over-site and please pass our apologies along to your readers.

Best regards,

Chris Autterson
Michigan Tape, Inc.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode proved two things to me: (1) Michigan Tape, Inc. is a decent company that genuinely takes to heart the concerns of the people. When they realized that their logo was potentially offensive, they immediately took action. Once they realized the storied history that existed between the peninsulas, they decided to make some changes. (2) How many times have you heard that expression that one person cannot make a difference? Mr. Jacobson proved that a simple email can open eyes and change minds. He single handedly changed the direction of a state-wide advertising campaign. Instead of offending manufacturers, producers, and consumers in the U.P., the new campaign will provide a "badge of pride" that we can all embrace. Buy Michigan Made -- and Shop Locally!