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If you can make it in Alaska, you can make it anywhere.
That's the idea behind Alaska Magazine's new marketing program. It tests ``high quality consumer products in unique Alaskan environments, primarily during wintertime conditions,'' said David Foster, editorial director for Morris National Magazines, which publishes Alaska Magazine.
Tests for the program, dubbed ``Alaska Tested Tough,'' will be conducted all over the state. Candidates submit products to a panel of experts, which field tests the outdoor equipment in a wide variety of seasonal activities in Alaska.
``In Alaska, we can have many different types of conditions to present to a product, and there's obviously no tougher place in America to test outdoor gear,'' Foster said.
If the product passes the field test, then Harris Interactive will conduct a consumer survey of Alaskans who actually own or use the product.
Manufacturer's claims motivated the project, Foster said.
``You have a lot of magazines that just make editorial claims that (products) are good for this, they're good for that, and we realized we had a terrific ready-made laboratory to put these claims to the test.''
Juneau may end up being one of those laboratories, he added.
``If we wanted to test things on easily accessible glaciers, certainly Juneau comes to find,'' Foster said.