August 15, 2011

Native woman shills for Pebble

Pebble advertising wars heat up as sides seek support

By Lisa Demer[W]hy are both sides so intent on winning our hearts and minds?

Pebble's buried treasure is immense, an estimated 80 billion pounds of copper and more than 100 million ounces of gold, though the developers stress no decisions have been made on how much--if any--to extract. The claim area spans 150 square miles. Pebble could become North America's largest open pit mine.

Some welcome the project as a source of sorely needed jobs in the cash-poor Bristol Bay region. But the deposit also straddles the headwaters of streams that feed rich runs of red salmon, king salmon and rainbow trout.

So where supporters see the promise of jobs, revitalized communities and glittering gold, opponents see a risk of destroyed habitat and the ruin of commercial and sport fisheries pursued by Alaskans for generations.

Now the two sides find themselves locked in an arms-race-style media war that, five years in, shows no sign of letting up.
The most recent commercials:Starting earlier this year, Pebble has been telling its story largely through a series of seven television ads featuring a young woman.

The Pebble Lady, say opponents.

Her name is Martina Arce, though that never is said in the ads. She's paid to be featured in the ads and says she has an open mind on Pebble--the same thing some prominent officials in the region say.
And:The ads featuring Arce shifted to economic themes. In one, she begins by saying how important fishing is to the region, but she notes that the season just lasts a few weeks and says many of the drift fishery permits now are owned by non-Alaskans.

The anti-Pebble group pounced.

"Bristol Bay doesn't believe the Pebble Lady," the announcer says in ads that recently began to air. "Do you?"
More on the Pebble Lady:

Iliamna woman is the 'face of Pebble'

By Lisa DemerMeet Martina Arce, 30.

She's featured in a series of ads for the giant Pebble copper and gold prospect. She never expected it, but she's now the face of Pebble. Or as Pebble foes like to call her, the Pebble Lady.

"Everybody is telling me there are blogs about me and this and that," Arce said. Much of it is negative, she said. Since Pebble sparks such strong sentiments, she anticipated some heat but not this much.

"You know you are not going to be on the most popular side," she said.

She grew up in Iliamna and went to school in Newhalen until she was 15 or so. Her mother is Athabascan, Aleut and Irish; her father is Mexican.
Comment:  For more on Natives and advertising, see Braves Haven't Helped Choctaws, Eska Water's Stereotypical Ad Campaign, and Spider-Man Pays Off for Foxwoods.

Below:  A Pebble Lady ad that doesn't mention the environmental costs.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't Athabascan a language family?

This is nothing new. Clarence Thomas essentially culled his dissenting opinion in a court decision favoring affirmative action from his own psyche, with exactly zero footnotes. He knows he's only there because he's black. More specifically, because he's black and willing to support a white supremacist agenda.

Thomas is right: We don't need affirmative action. We need whatever he and Yale legacy George W. Bush have.

dmarks said...

The above comment is yet another example of Clarence Thomas being bashed for his skin color. The racism if the left.

"More specifically, because he's black and willing to support a white supremacist agenda."

He has yet to support such an agenda in any way. Not only is the above commenter a raging bigot, he/she has no idea what he/she is talking about in regards to the subject mater.

"Thomas is right: We don't need affirmative action."

Well, now, this is true. Thomas is right. We don't need affirmative action. It is very racist. We need equal justice under the law.

dmarks said...

And in recent news, there's the Chicago firefighter situation which shows how racist and destructive affirmative action is.

African-Americans who are too incompetant to be firefighters are getting guaranteed jobs and/or cash rewards for being lousy firemen. Whites, hispanics, and others who are incompetant get what they should get: no money, and no firefighter jobs.

Anonymous said...

Clarence Thomas called a sexual harassment suit by a black woman a "high-tech lynching". Yes, I would say he supports a white supremacist agenda.

dmarks said...

Try again, but this time make a connection between your statement and conclusion.

dmarks said...

I attempt again to figure out Anon's poorly thought out and poorly worded point.

Thomas, in his "Lynching" comment, was referring to the efforts against him by mostly white people in Congress, as opposed to efforts by Anita Hill.

His comments were ill chosen, but not any more racist as when leftist black politicians make false claims racial persecution (such as this claim, which turned out to be a hoax). Both are destructive, as they muddy the waters when there is concern over actual incidents of racism.