VIOLA, Ill. — The spotlight will briefly be on the Quad Cities area during this year's Super Bowl LVII, when a Mercer County farmer and his family are featured in a Super Bowl commercial.
Chad Bell of Viola will be in a Super Bowl commercial for the Illinois Farm Families Coalition's 'We are the 96' campaign, a campaign focused on making Illinoisans aware that 96% of farms in Illinois are family-owned.
Through the commercial, Bell says that he wants to help build trust between Illinois farmers and consumers.
"Consumers believe that [only] 47% of all Illinois farms are family owned, but consumers trust family farmers," said Bell. "If we can gain awareness that 96% of all Illinois farms are family owned and operated, we can gain the trust of consumers."
The ads were constructed to represent Illinois farmers who produce everything from corn and soybean to beef and pork. Their goal is to make Illinois citizens aware that much of the food coming to their tables is produced by fellow Illinoisans.
"Our farmers want to connect with non-farmers in Illinois," said Illinois Corn Director of Communications and Marketing Lindsay Mitchell. "Our research tells us that non-farmers believe that most farms are run by corporations, which isn't the case."
The coalition is comprised of Illinois Corn, Illinois Beef, Illinois Pork, Illinois Soy, the Illinois Farm Bureau and Midwest Dairy.
"[Because of supply chain issues] trust levels are low, and people don't feel like they understand where to get information that they trust," Mitchell said. "We want to give people that are interested the opportunity to get to know these farmers in their state, their neighbors."
Make sure to look out for the commercial which will air during the first half.
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