Tongue-in-cheek campaign dares people to visit Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS – A new tourism campaign from Meet Minneapolis is taking the concerns of would-be visitors head on.
"One of the key misperceptions about Minneapolis, downtown in particular, is that it's deserted, that there's nothing going on, and nothing could be farther from the truth," said Melvin Tennant, president and CEO of Meet Minneapolis.
The "See What All the Fuss is About" multimedia campaign highlights the culture, cuisine and natural beauty the city offers.
That angle and its authenticity impressed first-time Minneapolis visitors Alison and Paul, who came from Michigan for the Yo La Tengo concert.
"I think it's smart to address it head on like the ad does instead of just putting it under the rug," said Alison Golm of Birmingham, Michigan, who is visiting with her partner Paul.
It's a tougher sell for suburbanites, who see well-publicized coverage about crime and business closures.
"For my husband it's the violence, which can happen anywhere. And then for me it's more the parking," said Sue Erdman of Rogers.
"I just feel like no one really wants to go downtown as much as they used to. Everything seems to be closing down and moving up north," said Rachel Kaphing of Ham Lake.
Meet Minneapolis knows luring people back is no small task.
"We want this message to be a little bit provocative. We're going to take our problems on head-on, and we've got a great city to offer," said Tennant.
Alison and Paul are packing in as much of the cities' offerings as they can on their last day in town.
"We're gonna go to the sculpture park. We have a nice dinner tonight at Young Joni," said Alison Golm.
"We've never felt like ugh, there's nothing to do," said Paul.
Meet Minneapolis will spend about $500,000 on advertising, a new website and a social media influencer program.