North Dakota Tourism, a division of the state commerce department, has unveiled its new advertising slogan:  I Am Legendary.

According to tourism director Sarah Otte Coleman, the slogan will be used to help people see themselves in North Dakota.  Print and television ads based around the slogan will come out in the spring.  Much of the advertising money will be spent in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Canada–places near us, where people already know enough about North Dakota to understand that our wide open spaces are fertile fields, not barren wasteland.

The I Am Legendary slogan is an attempt to bring tourists into the Legendary scene, to let them see themselves in General Custer’s house, in Teddy Roosevelt’s house, in a Mandan Lodge, at Norskfest or in Icelandic State Park…the list goes on.  North Dakota’s rich cultural heritage will be played up.

The tourism division often quotes a 2005 study showing that every dollar spent on adversing North Dakota tourism brought $81 in new money to the state.  Another study showed that tourism follows agriculture as the second largest industry in the state.

In 2008, the tourism division will spend about $1.8 million in advertising.  There’s a wide world of people who won’t see those ads.  I’m curious.  Will the experiences our neighboring tourists will have ripple out to reach more potential visitors? 

UPDATE:  I just came across an article printed in the Dickinson Press making the connection that Will Smith’s new movie, I Am Legend, also recently debuted.