The Alaska Airlines 737 above is somewhat special. Dubbed the “Salmon-Thirty-Salmon,” the jet received a custom paint job to promote Alaskan seafood:
A local nonprofit agency, the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board, gave Alaska Airlines a $500,000 grant to paint the jet. The money came out of about $29 million in federal funding U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska and his congressional colleagues have appropriated to the marketing board, created in 2003, to promote and enhance the value of Alaska seafood. The senator’s son, state Sen. Ben Stevens, is chairman of the agency’s board of directors.
I have to admit that it’s a really nice paint job, but there is definitely something “fishy” (sorry, I had to say it) about who paid for it : YOU. That’s right, your taxes were used to pay for this half-a-million dollar paint job. Talk about pork! Yeah, I’m really punny today… ;-p
