Often referred to as "the unemployed copywriter",
Michael Peterson recently placed fifth in the
Olives awards, earning him a fat century-and-a-half note and a free trip to New York City.
Previously, on the March 27 episode of
Countdown [MSNBC], Michael Peterson was referenced* by Keith Olbermann as the runner-up to the "worst person in the world" for coming up with the Washington State Tourism Slogan: "
Say WA."
*Mr. Olbermann bent the rules in order to include the entire Washington State Tourism Office.
The slogan had been heavily criticized in the media thanks mostly to this
associated press story; most outlets had it verbatim, including this statement from a tourism competitor:
"Thirty-five years ago I smoked dope and probably could have come up with something like that," said Darrell Bryan, general manager of Victoria Clipper, the largest tour operator in the Northwest. "To me, it's better to have no slogan than to come up with something like that. There's too much scratching the head about 'What does that mean?"'
To which Michael Peterson responded:
"Dear Mr. Bryan: When was the last time you spent so much energy thinking about advertising? Probably the last time you thought about anything: thirty-five years ago, when you were still a future burned-out former dopehead. The brain is a muscle, Darrell, and, as with any muscle, you should start off slow after a long period of inactivity."
Michael Peterson also thanked the newsmedia for giving the Washington State Tourism Office millions of dollars in free publicity, thereby easily dwarfing the office's paltry advertising budget.
The only person considered worse than Michael Peterson during that particular week was Swift-Boat artiste
Jerome Corsi.
