Last week, we chronicled the near death and rebirth of what many believe to be among the greatest tourism ad campaigns of all time, “Pure Michigan.” While the campaign received a $10 million lifeline to keep it on the air nationwide, the campaign’s struggle to gain funding might not have been all the necessary if Travel Michigan had been aware of “Gitcha Goomsba Up,” a much cheaper viral campaign for central Washington’s Bavarian tourist town, Leavenworth.
In only four days, the quietly released video has nabbed over 37,000 views on YouTube without any extra support from the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber’s executive director, Nancy Smith, told the Seattle Times yesterday, “We haven’t even sent any press releases out. But people have found it.”
Indeed, watching Bavarian honeys “shake it” in their dirndls while surrounding the town’s mascot, a nutcracker named Woody Goomsba, appeals to social media-savvy younger audiences sure to stumble across the video. According the Seattle’s local Fox-affiliate, all of the dancers in the video are town locals, and drooling frat boys might meet them on their next road trip through Leavenworth.