Winona Ryder is shining a big spotlight on the Minnesota city that inspired her name, thanks to a new "Welcome to Winona" Super Bowl commercial and ad campaign for Square Space.
Though the Super Bowl commercial is short and simply features the actor sitting in the snow near a "Welcome to Winona" sign outside of town, it directs people to a website which features a three minute film with many local faces and places.
"I have friends in New York who are like, 'I can't wait to watch the Super Bowl for it,'" said Kelly Momsen, who owns Yarnology, one of the locations where the ad takes place. "It's been really great for everybody."
"People are like, 'Oh there's the mayor.'" said Winona mayor Mark Peterson, whose photo appears in the extended film. "Everyone in town has seen this thing. It was a lot of fun actually. I did not actually get to meet Winona Ryder, but we waved at each other."
Local puppeteer, Timmy Turner, got more screen time than most. His puppets and portrait both made an appearance.
"There was a little bit of a script for the ad, so one of my puppets had some lines with Winona Ryder, but it was cut," Turner said. "She was very nice. I think she was a little creeped out by the puppets but it was fun to be a part of. I'm kind of flattered in a way."
And in a turn of life imitating advertising, both Turner and Momsen say they're now looking at adding their own SquareSpace websites.
"I've been working on building a site so that I can ride this exposure wave," Turner said, with a laugh. "It's TimmyTurner.net if you want to check out my work."
Some of the scenes in the ad can't actually be found in Winona, including the big welcome sign where the Super Bowl ad takes place. The crew built a sign specifically for the commercial and shot the scene a few miles out of town.
"Somebody told me it's up in a barn up on Garvin Heights," Peterson said. "Some neighbor up there apparently saved it."
The diner and bowling alley featured in the film are also not actually found in Winona. Those shoots took place in Mickey's Diner in St. Paul and Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis.
But nobody is too worried about being upstaged when Winona gets its chance to shine on Sunday.
"If you can put the name, Winona, Minnesota, in front of a hundred plus million people during the Super Bowl, that's a good thing," Peterson said.
After the ad airs, Square Space will sell a limited number of "Welcome to Winona" books featuring photos shot by Ryder herself. Proceeds will benefit the American Indian College Fund.