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MTV Gives Props to Interior Department’s Instagram (Video)

(Melanie Zanona/CQ Roll Call)
(Melanie Zanona/CQ Roll Call)

MTV admirably took a break from showcasing teen moms and teen wolves to advertise the Instagram account belonging to the U.S. Interior Department. The only problem? The department was completely in the dark about the commercial, until HOH tipped them off.  

“You saw our Instagram on a commercial? We are not running TV ads anywhere in the US to our knowledge. Do you have more info?” the Interior Department tweeted.  

The brief commercial — which flashes serene nature shots plucked from Interior’s Instagram account while featuring a soothing, female voice — appears to have been created by MTV, since it ends with the station’s logo in the corner.  

“Did you know the US Interior Department has an Instagram account?” the commercial begins. It continues: “So pretty, oh yea, right there, beautiful. Thanks America.”  

Melanie Zanona/CQ Roll Call
(Melanie Zanona/CQ Roll Call)

MTV did not return a request for comment on when or why it started airing the commercial and whether there are more advertisements of this nature. (Could a riveting C-SPAN Instagram commercial be next?)  

For their part, the Interior Department said it does not plan to make MTV stop the unauthorized use of their Instagram pictures. Although it is unclear how MTV would even benefit from the rather strange commercial, at least the advertisement may have garnered a few more followers for the department’s budding Instagram account.  

“We have seen an uptick in followers over the last couple of weeks. In fact, we just passed 304,000 this morning,” said Tim Fullerton, the Interior Department’s digital strategy director. “But we attribute that more to the stunning summer photos we’ve been posting from America’s public lands than anything else.”

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