OMAHA, Neb. — States pour lots of money into their tourism campaigns in a perpetual effort to lure visitors and their money. The Cornhukser State recently debuted its new tourism slogan: “Nebraska: Honestly, it’s not for everyone.”
The Washington Post said the state ranks last on travelers’ lists for places to visit, so the Nebraska Tourism Board decided it was time for a bold move.
According to Quartzy, the new slogan replaces “Nebraska Nice.”
“It was important to the Nebraska Tourism staff, marketing committee and Commissioners to be true to who we are and honest about what we are not. Along each step of the way, we were heavily involved in discovering ourselves and what those outside of our borders thought and felt,” Deb Loseke, the Nebraska Tourism Commission Chair and Columbus/Platte County Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director told KTIC. “So, we discovered that we can’t offer something to everyone – but to those that we can, this campaign speaks to their sense of adventure and discovering what we — as Nebraskans — are all about.”
The new slogan was developed by Denver-based advertising agency Vladimir Jones, according to the Omaha World-Herald. The newspaper said tourism officials estimated the cost of the campaign at $450,000.
Images from the new campaign feature scenic shots of the state with phrases echoing stereotypes associated with it. For example, a billboard showing a boy crossing a creek in a forested area says, “Another day on the dusty plains.”
Of course, the tourism slogan is different from the official state motto, which in Nebraska’s case is “Equality before the law.”