Travel South Dakota puts throwback twist in first Super Bowl ad

Ad debuted during big game Sunday

(Travel South Dakota)

South Dakota is more than a “one-hit wonder.”

That was the pitch involved in Travel South Dakota’s first Super Bowl ad, which involved a collaboration with the 2000s one-hit-wonder band Nine Days.

The band reworked its hit single “Absolutely (Story of a Girl)” into a revamped “Absolutely (Story of a State),” a catchy way of touting South Dakota’s many exciting offerings.

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“We took a really fun approach with the spot,” said Jim Hagen, secretary of the South Dakota Department of Tourism. “We’ve all heard it before that South Dakota has Mount Rushmore, but is there really anything else? Is it just a ‘one-hit wonder?’ And nothing could be further from the truth.”

The band “was amazing,” he continued. “They were more excited about the project than we were. They couldn’t have been a nicer group of guys to write the lyrics to be South Dakota specific, and it turned out really great. We were excited to showcase this.”

The 30-second commercial debuted during the big game Sunday through broadcast, cable and CTV live in select markets, with additional markets airing an extended 60-second cut. Priority markets included Denver, Minneapolis, Omaha, Des Moines and Kansas City, along with Rapid City and Sioux Falls. The commercial will continue to run in many of the key markets through late February.

“Those are definitely our top drive markets, and we’re still overwhelmingly a drive-market state,” Hagen said. “But that being said, kudos to the Sioux Falls and Rapid City airports for setting all-time records in 2023, so more people are discovering us by plane as well.”

The remix-turned-TV-commercial was developed and conceptualized in collaboration with ad agency Karsh Hagan, which is based in Denver.

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