Tweet
Alberta's Lake Louise used on U.S. gov't website
CALGARY - Alberta's sparkling Lake Louise has had an unusual champion: the United States government.
Weeks after Alberta’s use of British scenery left provincial officials red-faced, the U.S. government has been found using a promotional photo of Lake Louise on an environment website.
The flub has since been fixed, a Senate spokesman said.
The beguiling view prominently displayed on the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee website showed a classic mountain shot: snowcapped peaks towering over azure waters.
The alluring Rocky Mountains vista, though, was actually a view of Alberta’s Lake Louise.
The error was apparently caught by the Republican-leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which tipped off the Washington Post's "In the Loop" blog .
“Certainly we want the photo to reflect the United States,” Matt Dempsey, Republican spokesman for the committee, said Wednesday.
The photo was used as a temporary placeholder when the Republicans worked on a website redesign launched in December, 2006, he said.
Soon after its launch, the Democrats took control of the Senate — and the website’s management.
Many photos were later replaced. But not the shot of Lake Louise, said Dempsey.
Lake Louise tourism officials applauded the U.S. government’s move to allure Americans to visit the Canadian Rockies.
“We thank the Senate committee for the promotion and we welcome all US visitors to Banff National Park,” said Lori Bayne of Banff Lake Louis Tourism.
“Our landscapes are so beautiful, we’re not surprised they would want to use them in promotion of vacations.”
The photo faux pas follows a recent Alberta government gaffe.
In April, sheepish officials admitted to using a British landscape to promote the province.
A photo, used as part of Alberta’s glossy new rebranding campaign, showed two children running along a beachfront in a shot splayed with the province’s new slogan: Alberta. Freedom to create. Spirit to achieve.
The picture actually showed a famous beach in England.
Provincial Tories at first claimed the shot represented Alberta’s global outlook. Later, embarrassed officials apologized, and admitted they’d “screwed up.”
CALGARY - Alberta's sparkling Lake Louise has had an unusual champion: the United States government.
Weeks after Alberta’s use of British scenery left provincial officials red-faced, the U.S. government has been found using a promotional photo of Lake Louise on an environment website.
The flub has since been fixed, a Senate spokesman said.
The beguiling view prominently displayed on the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee website showed a classic mountain shot: snowcapped peaks towering over azure waters.
The alluring Rocky Mountains vista, though, was actually a view of Alberta’s Lake Louise.
The error was apparently caught by the Republican-leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which tipped off the Washington Post's "In the Loop" blog .
“Certainly we want the photo to reflect the United States,” Matt Dempsey, Republican spokesman for the committee, said Wednesday.
The photo was used as a temporary placeholder when the Republicans worked on a website redesign launched in December, 2006, he said.
Soon after its launch, the Democrats took control of the Senate — and the website’s management.
Many photos were later replaced. But not the shot of Lake Louise, said Dempsey.
Lake Louise tourism officials applauded the U.S. government’s move to allure Americans to visit the Canadian Rockies.
“We thank the Senate committee for the promotion and we welcome all US visitors to Banff National Park,” said Lori Bayne of Banff Lake Louis Tourism.
“Our landscapes are so beautiful, we’re not surprised they would want to use them in promotion of vacations.”
The photo faux pas follows a recent Alberta government gaffe.
In April, sheepish officials admitted to using a British landscape to promote the province.
A photo, used as part of Alberta’s glossy new rebranding campaign, showed two children running along a beachfront in a shot splayed with the province’s new slogan: Alberta. Freedom to create. Spirit to achieve.
The picture actually showed a famous beach in England.
Provincial Tories at first claimed the shot represented Alberta’s global outlook. Later, embarrassed officials apologized, and admitted they’d “screwed up.”
Comment