Last month, the Colorado Tourism Office offered a taste of this state to New Yorkers in the form of “Colorado High Altitude Concrete,” made by the distinctly un-Coloradan Danny Meyer. Anyone hungry for more was referred to a website that touts our fine cuisine of rattler cakes and Rocky Mountain oysters, and serves up enough spelling mistakes to make us look like a state already filled with illiterate peasants.
This month, the CTO has placed a full-page “Let’s Talk Colorado” promo in Food & Wine magazine, which sells those ads for $74,500 ($65,000 with a twelve-time contract). Beneath a picture of two convertible-driving fiftysomethings (no RV for this demographic!) gazing at stunning scenery is this copy: “Let’s talk road trips. Let’s talk breathtaking. Let’s talk Colorado.”
But in this magazine whose readers are rendered speechless by a perfect soufflé, let’s not talk about food. At all. If you think that's smart marketing, I've got an order of Rocky Mountain oysters for you.
There's still time for Coloradans to do their own talking about this state's breathtaking dining scene. In the comments section below are some of the answers readers have made to this question: "What Does Colorado Taste Like to You?" Add your own, and you could win dinner with Jason Sheehan. -- Patricia Calhoun
