Made in Tennessee

Tennessee officials have signed a five-year, $60 million contract with a Kansas City, Missouri firm to produce the "Made in Tennessee" tourism campaign.

The marketing agency VML, which has opened a Nashville office, produced two 30-second TV commercials promoting getting outdoors in Tennessee. The ads feature with dramatic waterfalls, green rolling hills and horseback-riding amid a forest scene. The ads will play in about a dozen markets around the country.

The head of the state's tourism department, Susan Whitaker, told WPLN-FM in Nashville at a time when other states are investing heavily in tourism promotion, Tennessee needs to keep up. Whitaker also cited ABC's "Nashville" as sparking new interest in visiting the city. VML's ad campaign is aimed at turning that interest into a visit.