GRAVITY, Iowa — Gravity, Iowa's 154 residents got a share of the Super Bowl spotlight Sunday night with a shout-out from Jason Sudeikis in a TurboTax commercial.
While in disguise with a rubber mask, the Ted Lasso star proclaims, "I invest in crypto in my hometown of Gravity, Iowa" as the ad boasts TurboTax's services are suited for just about anyone.
Sudeikis later rips off the mask to ask, "What if I work in London, live in New York, shot a Super Bowl commercial in Los Angeles?"
Gravity Mayor Charles Ambrose said the town had been contacted by an advertising company that asked to use the town's logo, but he was surprised it really happened.
"We knew that they were going to do something," Ambrose said. "And then I found out a couple days ago that they were, that it was going to be on the Super Bowl."
Ambrose didn't know exactly why Gravity was chosen over other towns, besides their slogan: "We're down to Earth. If Gravity goes, we all go."
"They just liked our slogan, and they thought it would be, you know, to their benefit to use it in some advertising," he said. "They just contacted us and asked us if we cared. And we said no, we didn't mind if they did. I thought it might be good exposure for the community."
Gravity is in Taylor County, about two hours southwest of Des Moines.
Ambrose hopes that exposure can help the town as it struggles financially.
"We're kind of in a bad situation right now, we are getting ready to raise money."
The town's post office closed and the owners tore down the building, so they are working to build a new combined fire station and post office.
"We're hoping maybe that it will help us raise some money from some from people that have history with Gravity," Ambrose said. "So that maybe we can get a post office back in town so that the elderly can, you know, have access to mail readily."
Ambrose said the only other time Gravity had exposure near this level was when the Boston Globe reported on a restaurant/grocery store he owned in the 1980s.
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