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Whistle Pig for Prez: The Story Behind Those Funny New Campaign Signs in Boone

By Jessica Isaacs

Photo by Ken Ketchie

More and more campaign signs continue to pop up around town as Election Day approaches. We know the candidates by name by now, but there’s also signage for a new guy in town that’s probably got you asking questions.

Wherever you see campaign signs in Boone, you’ll likely also find one that reads “Whistle Pig for Prez.” These signs are clever advertisements for the nearby Sky Valley Zip Tours, and they feature its adorable new logo, the Whistle Pig.

“The Whistle Pig is the name of our kids’ course that we just built and opened this year. It has seven zip lines, a bridge and a 20-foot slide out of the tree. It’s been great and it’s for children ages 4 and up,” said Sky Valley General Manager Jack Sharp. “When we built it, we wanted to name it for a local animal or something cute, so we came up with the whistle pig, which is a nickname for the groundhog.”

In the heat of a vastly controversial election, Sharp said their new groundhog ambassador and his campaign slogan might lighten the mood a little bit around town.

“As a business in the High Country, they don’t really allow signage for local businesses other than on your own property. With a little bit of grassroots guerilla marketing, we thought, ‘Well, they allow campaign signs,’” said Sharp. “Everybody’s sick of seeing those by now, so we just thought it would be a humorous way to drum up some advertising if we made the Whistle Pig, our little groundhog guy, a presidential nominee. Amongst this ridiculous campaign that we have facing our country, we also thought it would add some humor.”

Zip over to Sky Valley’s website to learn more about the Whistle Pig course.