Photo: Misty Servia, chair of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitor Bureau, reads a proclamation for the Love It Like a Local campaign. Behind her, from the left, are Mayor Dan Murphy of Anna Maria. Mayor Gene Brown of Bradenton, Mayor Judy Titsworth

A coalition of Manatee County Mayors threw enthusiastic support behind a new initiative created by the Bradenton Ae Convention and Visitor Bureau, designed to encourage visitors to the region to “Love it Like a Local.” The campaign was announced at a meeting of the Manatee County Tourism and Development Council on April 19th and will be launched on Earth Day, April 22nd. The intent of the campaign is to encourage visitors to the region to visit “responsibly.”

The campaign is centered around a series of animated videos designed to appeal to kids and address three pillars of maintaining community quality and quality of life. The three pillars are; to respect the local people of our community, to respect and care for the wildlife and natural beauty of our community, and to preserve endangered and protected areas by knowing what natural spaces are off-limits to human traffic.

City of Palmetto Mayor, Shirley Groover Bryant, commented that the emotional impact was reminiscent of the famous “Keep America Beautiful” campaign that was so widely seen through the 1970s, “I thought about a campaign … now long gone and no longer appropriate at this time, of a [Native American man] with a tear running down his cheek.” The Mayor continued that she felt the campaign should be “expanded into the local community to help them recognize that they are locals and they should embrace [those same principles]. I hope this expands into our schools and to our young people. That’s where it starts.”

Share the campaign with #LoveItLikeALocal.

Photo: Misty Servia, chair of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitor Bureau, reads a proclamation for the Love It Like a Local campaign. Behind her, from the left, are Mayor Dan Murphy of Anna Maria. Mayor Gene Brown of Bradenton, Mayor Judy Titsworth

Click to view view the campaign.