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Ad puts quirky Tonopah on map
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Courtesy Of Ifc
Tonopah residents appear in a tourism commercial by Internet comedians Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal. The making of the quirky ad was documented on the IFC reality series "Rhett and Link: Commercial Kings."
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Oct. 12, 2011 | 12:20 p.m.
So there's this reality show on cable where two Internet comedians travel around the country making goofy-but-real commercials for real-but-goofy local businesses.
There's one about a hotel for cats and another about an eco-friendly funeral company called Bury Me Naturally.
Then there's one where "Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings" decide to promote an entire town. Specifically, the town of Tonopah, Nevada.
Local officials were a little leery at first.
"I was very worried about what they were going to do," said Town Manager James Eason, who grew up in the Nye County mining town halfway between Las Vegas and Reno. "We're very proud of our town and who we are. We don't want to be the butts of anyone's jokes."
Eason put it another way during his appearance on the show, which aired on cable channel IFC. He was the one who, during filming at a town meeting earlier this year, called Rhett and Link's initial ideas "asinine."
Luckily, the "Commercial Kings" don't take such things personally. Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal said most people they feature in their show tend to relax once they realize the duo is laughing with them, not at them.
"The tension that you feel in that board meeting was very real," Rhett explained, "but everyone was really welcoming."
That includes Eason, who wound up liking the finished product.
"I thought the commercial, the way they put it together, was pretty cool," he said.
The 80-second spot hits all the highlights -- the mining museum, the opportunities for hiking and off-roading, the dark night skies perfect for stargazing. But it also includes plenty of nods to the paranormal and just plain abnormal.
The slogan at the end is "Tonopah, Nevada: We're different."
Town Board member Duane Downing likes that message just fine.
"I think they found some of the strangest people in our town, and they found all of them," he said, but the overall ad is as entertaining as it is accurate.
Truth is, Tonopah is different.
"It's a quiet, slow pace of life. Everybody knows everybody," Downing said. "It's a good place to live. It's a great place to raise kids."
The old silver mining town has full rights to the finished commercial to use as it sees fit. Eason said the community of about 2,500 people can't afford to buy any big-city TV time, but Downing hopes they can find a way to get the ad out there somehow.
"It might generate some interest from people driving through between Las Vegas and Reno," he said.
That's how Rhett and Link discovered Tonopah: through a windshield, a midpoint surprise on U.S. Highway 95.
The lifelong friends turned self-described "Internetainers" had just finished making a commercial for a Reno roller rink and were on their way to Las Vegas to film a spot for Designated Drivers, a business that shuttles drunk people and their cars home safely from the bar.
Link said they originally planned to pick out a storefront in Tonopah as their next subject.
"There was something very appealing about helping a business in what we thought was the middle of nowhere," he said.
They went in expecting the Wild West -- dusty saloons, six guns and cowboy hats. What they got instead were ghost stories, new age spirituality and a man who used facial tattoos and plastic surgery to turn himself into a cat.
Rhett and Link quickly decided that what Tonopah really needed was an official tourism campaign.
As Link put it: "My feelings were confirmed: It is indeed the middle of nowhere. But it's worth visiting.
"That's what I discovered. It's worth the drive."
Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.
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I agree that Tonopah is a speed trap, all you got to do is slow down. The best way to beat a speed trap is to just slow down. Local law enforcement in small towns like this look at traffic violations as revenue pure and simple. It's the same in every small town in America.
Thanks, Digger, for posting the link. Why reporter Henry Brean didn't include it in the story is beyond me!
I have been making the trip from Las Vegas to Reno and points north since 1960. Those early years there were no speed limits on open roads in Nevada. 95 was two lane all the way. We had a flat tire once between Goldfield and Tonopah. We stopped in the middle of the road and dug out the tire and jack. Changed the tire. Then replaced everything into the trunk and went on our way. Never saw another car. Didn't have A/C back then. We carried water in canvas bags hung from the hood ornament down in front of the radiator. We always made the trip in July or August.
Beatty, Goldfield, Tonopah, Lida, Mina, Luning, Hawthorn, Fernley, Fallon and even Reno, none have changed in 50 years. I swear you could drink half a beer, set it on the curb in Goldfield, come back next year pick it up and finish it.
Alamo, Hiko, Caliente, Pioche, Ely, Curry, Wells and really, even Elko haven't changed. You can take a 20 year vacation, come back, get in your car and find everything just as you remembered.
Kinda good. Then there is Vegas. God help us....PLEASE
As a driver who does the Nevada triangle in a semi (US-93 from Vegas to Wells (sometimes Twin Falls, ID) across I-80 to Reno then back down US-95 returning to Vegas, I only occasionally see NHP in Tonopah (usually on the north side of town). The biggest speedtraps are around Walker Lake, Fallon, Beatty & around Creech AFB. If you drive north of Winnemucca up towards Boise they patrol that stretch pretty heavily also. Along 93 watch out around Ely/McGill and through Alamo & Hiko. Tonopah is a fairly nice town but not much for truckers ammendities. I think the major "town" in the area would have to be Hawthorne, but with the fate of the Depot there, its future is up in the air.
Business travel frequently takes me through Tonopah. I disagree with the characteriziation of that community as a speed trap. There are several well-placed signs that notify drivers of reduced speed ahead, followed by others placed about every 1/4 mile with 10 MPH reductions in the limit. Obey the signs, keep your speed to 25 as you go through their downtown area (lots of pedestrians crossing the highway), and you won't have any problems. Don't be in such a hurry!
Aside from that, really neat little community that seems to be on the verge of a boom. I wish them luck.
This link will take you the the commercial to watch.
http://www.ifc.com/videos/rhett-link-commercial-kings-tonopah-commercial.php
I remember channel surfing one night and catching a glimpse of Goldfield in a movie of all places. That became the first time I watched "Vanishing Point" and realized that with the exception of a couple of new buildings in each town, neither had changed at ALL in 30 years. As for driving in Nevada, EVERY town is a speedtrap! NHP and the small town cops don't care if you speed. Even sustained triple-digit speeds in my younger, more foolish years, though I've not gone that fast for quite some time. Speedtraps are the least of your worries. Crashing into cattle is the real threat. Still I've seen plenty of morons tailgate me through places like Searchlight, Beaty, and Tonopah, and then watched them speed around me only to get pulled over.
Why can't they get the LVCVA to finance the commerical airing on TV? Aren't they supposed to be advertising the "other side of Nevada" or some such nonsense like that.
Tonopah, huh? Does the city talk about the 1940 incident where A US Senator was reputed to have died just before the election and was kept "on ice" in the Mizpah Hotel until after the votes were counted? It is quite a story, I'm using the yarn as the basis for a novel.
Why not throw the ad on YouTube and let it go viral? I just googled "Tonopah Commercial" and other than a blurb on the IFC website there is nothing. I'm intrigued plus a few well placed key words will cause it to get hits... "drive, las vegas, reno" etc.