MN's 'Locally-Laid Eggs' A Finalist In Super Bowl Ad Competition
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Most businesses would jump at the chance for a Super Bowl ad. But with a price tag at around $4 million for just 30 seconds, it's a cost many companies can't afford.
This February, we could see one Minnesota company featured on that national stage.
Locally Laid Egg Company, in Wrenshall, Minn., is among the top 20 finalists in a Super Bowl ad competition by Intuit.
Jason Amundsen's chicken farm is by no means the largest in Minnesota, but it is getting plenty of attention.
"It's a little overwhelming, so every day we step back and go wow," Jason Amundsen, owner of Locally Laid Egg Company, said.
Locally Laid Egg Company is a booming business. Customers have developed a taste for its pasture-raised eggs.
"Because they're foraging, the nutrition is absorbed into the egg and no factory can replicate that," said Amundsen.
In operation just over a year, it's quadrupled in size with demand surpassing supply.
"We'll bring in eight cases of eggs on a Monday morning, and 15 dozen to a case. They're out of stock by Tuesday morning," he said.
In February, there's the potential for unimaginable growth. Locally Laid Eggs has a shot at an advertising opportunity unavailable to most small businesses.
The company is in the running for a 30 second commercial when TV viewership is at its highest.
"We've been really lucky that we've moved forward in the Super Bowl contest," Amundsen said.
Locally Laid has made it through the first two rounds of competition. The first round was a paper application. In the second round, the company had to submit a video.
After a nationwide vote, Jason's company found itself in the top 20 of Intuit's Super Bowl ad contest.
Fifteen thousand other companies couldn't compete with that catchy brand or 2,500 chickens named Lola.
"It started out as something we put up on Facebook occasionally," he said. "We would post and we found this overwhelming support for what we're trying to do."
Intuit's employees will now winnow the top 20 finalists down to a final four. A nationwide vote will then determine a winner and that company will get a free Super Bowl commercial.
A life-changing opportunity for any small business, but, Jason believes a victory for him would have an impact well beyond his Wrenshall pasture..
"I think it would do great things for the local food movement," he said.
Locally Laid eggs are sold at stores in Duluth, the Twin Cities and Wisconsin. For more information, click here.
