What happens when the Recession Apocalypse has got you down? Get a couple of buddies together, call yourselves the Defenders of the Commonwealth and launch a $5 million Kickstarter campaign to promote the state of Kentucky in the first ever crowdfunded Super Bowl commercial.
The campaign, started by three advertising creatives, will recognize the state of Kentucky as the birthplace of the Happy Birthday song among other feel-good homages to the Bluegrass State.
Whit Hiler, who co-founded the effort with buddies Kent Carmichael and Griffin Vanmeter, says that so far Kentucky for Kentucky has raised $2,600. They have set the go-ahead funding level at $3.5 million. They hope to have that much by November 7, a few months before the famed football match.
They have a ways to go, but that has not diminished Hiler’s enthusiasm. “We’re going rogue with it,” he jokes. “The idea would be to have millions of Kentuckians invested in this project. This is about shedding light to the world that Kentucky is awesome and it kicks ass.”
Kentucky, like other states facing fiscal pressures, could use the tourism boost, too.
We’ll be tracking this project, and if you feel like getting a T-shirt in exchange for a few greenbacks to the Kentucky cause – and another possible proof of Kickstarter’s successful crowdfunding concept – you can head on over.
