Paul Bunyan ads

[lsanderson]

By Brian Lambert | 05:37 am

If it rained gold from heaven, someone would complain about the mess on the lawn. John Hageman of the Bemidji Pioneer reports: “MNsure ads feature Bemidji’s Paul Bunyan statue getting into various dilemmas that would require the legendary giant to visit the hospital, such as a water skiing accident and woodpeckers attacking his head while Babe the Blue Ox looks on. The ads are a light-hearted attempt to build awareness of the health exchange, which will allow people to compare insurance plans side-by-side in an online marketplace. But some local leaders aren’t laughing. ‘I think they’re offensive, some of them, and I think they’re inappropriate,’ Mayor Rita Albrecht said Monday ... ‘And I would prefer some of them not be used.’ Lori Paris, the Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce president, shared a similar sentiment. ‘Paul has been our icon for so many years that you think of that particular Paul, you think of Bemidji,’ she said. ‘But now when you see him running into a tree and falling over, it just looks foolish I think.’ ” I mean, when you think giant Blue Ox … you’re thinking “dignified.” Link