Hooray, BP is running more tourism ads

BP Press Release: BP announced today that it is expanding its Gulf Coast tourism advertising campaign with new ads highlighting this year’s successful tourism season debuting Monday, November 21st in broadcast markets around the country.

The new television spot, titled “Best Season,” is BP’s first national ad in a year and is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to keep people informed and help support economic restoration along the Gulf Coast. The television spot highlights 2011 as the best tourism season in years – despite a sluggish national economy – and will be part of an integrated television, online and social media campaign. It builds on the successful campaign that kicked off in August with two well-received TV commercials – “Best Place” and “Great Vacation.”

Those spots all featured spokespeople from four Gulf States engaging in a spirited discussion of their state’s great beaches, fishing and seafood and extending an invitation to vacation along the Gulf Coast. The ads ran in all of BP’s retail markets plus the Gulf States and in markets within 500 miles driving distance from the Gulf. The ads reached more than 50 percent of the US population.

The new “Best Season” spot features the same spokespeople, now talking about the strong 2011 tourist season along the Gulf Coast and engaging in a light-hearted debate over who had the best season. They go on to invite people to come down to the Gulf for a warm and sunny winter holiday.

“These ads are not just a lot of fun, but, as evidenced by the record number of visitors in some areas, extremely effective at letting people know the Gulf Coast is still a premiere tourist destination,” said Mike Utsler, head of BP’s Gulf Coast Restoration Organization. “We are pleased to be able to expand the reach of these ads to the entire country and by doing so hopefully encourage even more people to vacation along the Gulf.”

In addition to the tourism series, BP has also been running an online campaign, known as the “My Gulf” series, featuring a variety of people who live and work in the Gulf. The series has been appearing on the company’s YouTube channel since August. Eight of the “My Gulf” videos showcase the lives of the spokespeople appearing in BP’s Voices From the Gulf TV spots. A total of 28 videos have been produced as part of that series.

See ad —I don’t think I’m in it.