After years of state tourism efforts that ranged from embarrassing to abysmal -- including the cringe-inducing "Let's Talk Colorado" -- the Colorado Tourism Office has finally come to life with its new "Come to Life" campaign.
The campaign is the work of Karsh/Hagan, the local ad agency that last year won a piece of the contract long held by long-distance MMG Worldwide with a pitch that relied on the "Colorful Colorado" slogan once used to market this state -- and is still on the welcome signs at the state line (after a brief attempt to replace them with something that looked like corporate branding).
In going back to that slogan, the agency skipped such interim embarrassments as "Guess I'd Rather Be in Colorado" (where are you, Judy Collins?) and "Colorado: Above All" (with its echo of the Nazi "Über Alles"), the most recent, carnivalesque "In a Land Called Colorado" and the godawful "Let's Talk Colorado," a campaign that subjected New Yorker readers to "Dude Interlude," possibly the most idiotic piece ever published.
But then the CTO decided it wanted something entirely new, and Karsh/Hagan came up with "Come to Life" and a series of stunning TV commercials featuring homegrown talent -- including original music by the Colorado Symphony -- and scenery shot by photographer Tim Kemple and filmmaker Anson Fogel.
Seeing is believing:
Get more details in our Show and Tell post "Filmmaker Anson Fogel on Colorado's stunning new tourism campaign."
