Park&Co

How we helped residents of the Copper Triangle voice their support of the Land Exchange bill for the benefit of legislators.

Carlos Martinez remembers the sounds of 1937 Superior, AZ like it was yesterday. Freshest in his mind is the clamor of children running home from school. "It sounded like a herd of cattle," he says. "You could hear it from a mile away." Today, 73 years later, Carlos and his wife Gloria sit on those same steps, where it's all too quiet.

Superior is a small town in Arizona's Copper Triangle that's fighting for its life. Like its neighbors, Superior and its residents rely on the mining industry for survival. The formula is simple: when the mine is operating, the town thrives; when there's no mining, there's not much of a town. So when Resolution Copper Mining arrived with news that Superior is sitting on one of the largest copper ore bodies in the world, you can imagine the excitement.

But it's not as simple as grabbing a shovel and going to work. There are regulations to follow, organizations to convince and minds to change. Despite overwhelming statewide support, the fate of the mine rests on the passage of land exchange legislation and a battle waged in Washington, not Superior.

At first glance, this looked like a tough campaign; one waged between lobbyists and government heavyweights. But when we looked closer, this wasn't about politics, money or power. How could someone in Washington possibly understand what it felt like to live in the same town your whole life only to watch it literally crumble before your eyes? So instead of producing a slick, polished video presentation on the merits of the mine, we got out of the way entirely and let people like Carlos and Gloria Martinez speak for themselves.

Soon, YouTube became a town hall where Superior residents and their neighbors sounded off on what mining means to them and their community.

From salons to bars to saddle shops, residents painted a more honest and powerful picture than anything that even the most creative advertising agency could dream up. What made this campaign so special was giving people their voice back. Something as simple as that could ultimately prove to be the difference in breathing new life into this once-thriving corner of Arizona.

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