News
Highflying Tourism
SACRAMENTO BEE
Business Section
Published February 19, 2005
Highflying tourism ad picks up airline partner
By Bob Shallit
That popular California tourism TV spot featuring Clint Eastwood and other celebs is about to make its 2005 appearance - with a corporate twist.
There's a regular version of the ad that has Eastwood, the governor, Jack Nicholson and others talking about all the zany things we do in California. We play. We swing. We fly. We rock. That's a 30-second spot, like the ones that have been running since Sacramento's Mering & Associates introduced the first version of the ad in 2002.
But there's also a 22-second version this year that leads into an eight-second Southwest Airlines ad promoting fares to select Golden State destinations. The "tag on" is a first both for the state and for Southwest. "It's unprecedented," said Lori Bartle, Mering's director of account management.
She says Mering has been sending copies of the state's spot to Southwest for a couple of years, hoping to get the airline to partner in the campaign (and kick in some cash, of course). "It finally landed on the right person's desk," she said of the airline's decision to join in.
Why Southwest? It has a natural connection with the state's tourism business. Also, Bartle said, "there's a certain irreverence at Southwest that aligns perfectly with California's attitudes."
The new ads - both the ones with Southwest and those without - will make their debut in national markets next month.