UNM calls on the help of 'Lynette LaBurqueña'
Posted at: 09/14/2012 7:25 PM
By: Adam Camp, KOB Eyewitness News 4
The University of New Mexico wants to reach more international students, and it's not stopping at simply promoting their great academic programs.
They want to use local YouTube sensation Lauren Poole, or so-called 'Lynette LaBurqueña.'
Poole garnered nearly 650,000 hits on a video she produced earlier this year about the unique things people from Albuquerque say.
Mary Anne Saunders is the new global incentives specialist for UNM. She said using Lynette is a must.
"What Lynette does is have fun, at her own expense, with some of the really unique characteristics that can be confusing," she said.
Poole showed her unique character Friday to current foreign exchange students at UNM. She wanted to teach the students about ordering chile in Albuquerque.
"Ordering food and understanding what does red or green chile mean. How does this chile go from looking like a grown chile to the chile that's in your burrito," Poole said.
But Poole has also heard complaints over her videos.
There was an editorial in the Friday edition of The Albuquerque Journal that said Lynette was politically incorrect. But Poole said her character is meant to rid people of stereotypes.
"That's really the point of the character is to show people that someone, New Mexicans, might look a certain way, but that doesn't mean that they're mean or scary," Poole said.
Poole has become so popular, the New Mexico State Fair used her to promo this year's festivities.
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