Remember When The Skipper And Gilligan Visited Duluth?
Duluth tourism went big time when they hired the actors who play those characters to come to Duluth and make an appearance, and a nifty commercial too;
With all the talk about Mayor Emily Larson outsourcing a firm to promote Duluth, it seems it has happened before. The two actors made a commercial promoting Duluth. I'm sure there had to be an outside firm that would be able to hire these actors. This isn't the first instance of big-time actors promoting the city.
Al Franken, who later became a big writer and star on Saturday Night Live and ran for congress was even a pitchman. In true Al fashion, he became the one-man satellite reporter, it's delivered in the same sort of style.
Telly Savalas was a spokesperson for Duluth too. He married a Duluth native Julie Hoveland and had a place in Duluth and loved it here. He spoke very highly of Duluth and how beautiful it was and how nice the people are. Many people believe that a lot of actors moved here because they could live and circulate in public and not be hounded for autographs. Telly was the biggest reason because he told all of his friends how nice it was to live and be himself in our community. Word has it, he worked for free.
So, is Mayor Emily Larson wrong in getting an outside firm to promote Duluth? Yes and no. It's always easier to have a third person evaluate what is being done wrong and how to fix it. I think they would also know what is a big deal for others to do and see compared to someone that lives here. We may think it's a big deal when it really isn't.
On the other hand, some of the passion for promoting the city might be needed in order to find the right words to describe the city. I think it's going to be fine that the job was outsourced. After all, we had those memorable commercials from before when we outsourced.
Duluth has made it to TV as well with where we like to eat.