LANSING – The Pure Michigan tourism advertising campaign will continue through the end of the year – and the brand will live on even longer – despite a funding veto Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued amid an ongoing budget dispute with the Republican-led Legislature.
The Michigan Strategic Fund, which Whitmer reshaped last month with new appointments, voted Tuesday to use leftover money from last fiscal year to continue paying the advertising and public relations firms behind the Pure Michigan campaign.
The state will pay ad firm McCann $667,500 in unexpended “work project funds” for travel and marketing ad services through Dec. 31.
The board also approved $73,100 for Weber Shandwick to wrap up ongoing public relations and social media projects before transitioning responsibilities to in-house staff at the state-funded Michigan Economic Development Corp.
McCann and Weber are both based in New York but have offices in Metro Detroit.
