Pennsylvania Tourism Goes All Out For 'Peter Arthur Stories'

Looking to “stand out in the fierce competition for tourist dollars,” the Visit Pennsylvania Tourism Department has turned to the web to attract visitors via its new original web series, Peter Arthur Stories.

Featuring a cast made up of all Pennsylvania residents, the series revolves around Peter Arthur and his quest through the state via an orange scooter to find Meg, a waitress who served him a perfect slice of “shoofly” pie during a family road trip years ago that he treasures as one of his favorite moments in life.

There have been four episodes that have run so far exclusively on www.pastories.com (and YouTube) and Annie Heckenberger, the “community trailblazer” at Red Tettemer, the firm which created the web series, says that they “plan to evolve the story with another series of episodes to debut … possibly as early as fall 2009.”

Heckenberger believes that “engaging our audience in a compelling story starring the Pennsylvania brand rather than hitting them over the head with another scenic vista” will help the state’s tourism department meet its goals of bringing additional dollars to the region’s coffers.

“Many tourism promotion agencies around the state have been complimenting the campaign and hoping that Peter can visit their region next,” she says. “And after all, who doesn’t enjoy a good love story with Pennsylvania as the backdrop?”

So far, the response to the series, which was written by Red Tettemer associate creative director Matt Lanzdorf and creative director Todd Taylor, has been positive.

“Viewers have responded enthusiastically to the story,” Heckenberger says. “One comment we received was, ‘I loved the quirkiness of the segments and the characters and how it showed various aspects of Pennsylvania.’ Another said, ‘As soon as I saw that orange scooter, I knew where I was heading this summer!’ ”

Fans of the series also have the opportunity to win one of 12 trips to Pennsylvania by participating in a four-question Peter Arthur Stories trivia contest accessed on the site.