• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, September 14, 2018

A little more than a year after white supremacists wreaked havoc in Charlottesville, VA, leaving one person dead, Virginia Tourism Corporation and The Martin Agency are out with a new campaign designed to show that Virginia is still for lovers, not haters.

Of course the reality is, haters pop up everywhere, including Virginia, but this is an ad campaign designed to sell Virginia as a tourist and vacation destination. The new ads pull at the heartstrings with a focus on experiences--Virginia experiences in particular--that bring people together. The new ads do a fine job of showing that there's a lot to like about the place.

The new campaign is called “LoveShare,” and kicks off next week with print and broadcast ads.

The campaign positions Virginia as a place that “is bringing people together who don’t see eye-to-eye to share stuff they love,” according to the agency.

One spot depicts an interracial couple and their parents who go on a tour of Richmond’s burgeoning craft brewery scene and help make beer.

Another ad features a gay son and his father who shuck and eat fresh oysters from the Chesapeake Bay. This ad in particular is a cinematic treat.

There’s also a commercial that features a sommelier and a Tennessee grape grower who bond while picking grapes in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

An agency rep describes the essence of the campaign thusly: “Through shared experiences, common passions and getting up-close to Virginia’s culinary scene, people who have their differences were reminded that the things they share are much bigger than the things that divide them. And in the end, proved Virginia really is for lovers.”

A very admirable sentiment. After all, who doesn't hope love triumphs over hate? (Aside from the haters, that is.)

The new campaign arrives 50 years after the state’s iconic “Virginia Is For Lovers” tagline debuted in 1968. That slogan was also created by The Martin Agency (based in Richmond), back then known as Martin & Woltz.