Winona's Super Bowl ad felt more like 'Fargo,' residents say

The city of Winona expected to be showcased for the nation's largest TV audience last month in an ad during the Super Bowl.

What it got instead was a quirky spot for an internet company that featured actress Winona Ryder lying in a snowbank and having a conversation with a slow-witted police officer.

"There was a lot of anticipation," said Genia Hesser, executive director of the Winona County Historical Society. "It was a little bit of a letdown."

The commercial, she said, "had a Coen brothers vision that reminded me of 'Fargo.' "

Others were more blunt in their criticism.

"Ouch! They spent over $5 million to turn a silk purse into a sow's ear," wrote Patrick Marek, publisher of the Winona Post, in a signed editorial. "Both Ryder and the city of Winona deserved better. As for the city of Winona, it took a lot of work to rub the luster off of one of the most beautiful cities in America."

In the months leading up to the big game, excitement had built as Ryder — who was born in the area and named after the city — arrived with a film crew and shot footage in and around downtown. Alas, none of that footage was shown in the ad that aired, although it did run online as part of a broader marketing campaign for Squarespace, a company that sells templates for build-your-own websites.

"Winona is like a diamond with hundreds of brilliant facets," it says, noting that the bustling Mississippi River city boasts more than 100 individual properties and 13 entire blocks listed on the National Historic Register.

Visit Winona is printing a book with photos submitted by residents and, as part of its post-Super Bowl campaign, created a sweepstakes with a grand prize of an all-expenses-paid weekend visit to the city (registration for the sweepstakes is closed).

"We had been hearing from a lot of people who were disappointed that more of the town wasn't shown" in the ad," said Pat Mutter, executive director of Visit Winona. "We decided we needed to do something in response."

The counterprogramming has been a big success, she added.

"The website we made with Squarespace had more than 45,000 unique views," Mutter said, and the sweepstakes garnered more than 1,200 entries.

"Expectations were out there because people had seen [Ryder] filming in the downtown area, and we had some local people involved," she said. But it's been a positive experience overall, she added.

"I think in the end we know that people will never like the same things," Mutter said. "And I think as an ad it certainly got a lot of attention.

"We at Visit Winona are so thrilled that Winona, Minnesota, got in front of a Super Bowl audience. We would have never gotten the opportunity to be in front of such a large audience."

Local attorney Paul Brosnahan wasn't as measured in his response.

"You know, you could have just as easily conveyed your message by putting her on a museum bench with a Picasso over her shoulder," he said. "Instead of being interrupted by Gomer Pyle, she could have been interrupted by an engineering student from Winona State."

"They could have conveyed the very same message without trashing our little town."

John Reinan • 612-673-7402