Napoleon in Iowa
CLIENT: Travel Iowa (Iowa Tourism)
ROLE: Writer & Director
PRODUCER: Aaron Ward
DP: Jon Van Allen
Christopher Cook
“Napoleon in Iowa” was a five-part, multi-state television campaign created for Travel Iowa and ZLR Ignition during an accelerated one-month pre-production process.
My task, along with the Iowa Filmmakers team, was to create a memorable campaign that would highlight the state’s unsung qualities while standing apart from the usual tourism commercial.
Our answer was to send Napoleon Bonaparte to Iowa 200 years after he had sold it to the United States.
Iowa. The one that got away.
The Napoleon series made a significant splash on social media, receiving over 400,000 views on YouTube alone. It had regular television exposure on stations in Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Kansas City. ‘Napoleon in Iowa’ was renewed for a 2nd year and our campaign tagline, “This is Iowa,” was adopted as the Iowa’s tourism slogan.