A major opportunity could be coming for promotional products distributors in the Cornhusker State.

Lawmakers in Nebraska gave first round approval on Thursday (April 4) to legislation that would authorize the Nebraska Tourism Commission to develop state marketing campaigns, and to develop and sell a gamut of tourism-themed promotional products, from T-shirts to mugs and much more.

State Sen. John Stinner introduced the bill (LB637). The initial vote was 40-0.

Yesterday the Legislature passed my bill, LB637, to authorize the Nebraska Tourism Commission to sell promotional products for the... https://t.co/nv2LXdJwlv

— Senator John Stinner (@JohnStinner) April 5, 2019

Assuming the legislation ultimately receives final approval from the legislature and a sign-off from the governor (it’s likely to), the commission will be able to contract with private vendors to produce, sell and distribute branded merchandise.

And demand figures to be huge.

Folks in the Midwestern state are already clamoring to know when they’ll be able to buy products branded with the commission’s new summer tourism slogan -- “Honestly, it’s not for everyone.”

"We've had a lot of requests, I mean, they keep coming in on Facebook all the time: 'Where can I buy a T-shirt? Where can I get a cup?'" tourism Executive Director John Ricks told the Lincoln Journal Star.

The commission says its new tourism campaign started Monday. Daily tourism website traffic has doubled since.

As the “Honestly, it’s not for everyone” tagline indicates, the tourism marketing campaign departs from the homespun “Nebraska Nice” of the recent past in favor of a self-deprecating humor that state officials and the advertising experts they worked with say resonated well in focus groups.

"Deb Loseke, who chairs the Nebraska Tourism Commission, said it was important to be truthful about "who we are" and "what we are not" after consumer research found that travelers don't consider Nebraska a "leisure travel destination." https://t.co/g0kPJnsBHD via @owhnews

— Bill Wambeke (@unfiltereddad) October 17, 2018

Ads in the campaign poke fun at stereotypes about Nebraska, such as that the state is boring and flat and nothing but dusty plains. For instance, as shown here, one ad reads “Famous for our flat, boring landscape,” but shows a couple hiking among rock formations in northwest Nebraska’s Toadstool Geologic Park.

Nebraska Tourism Commission unveils marketing campaign "not for everyone" https://t.co/nreZqBRSIG

— Kubuli Adventurer (@basolomon) October 18, 2018

Nebraska knows the state is "not for everyone" and it's proud of that in a new ad campaign.

"You can't change perceptions just by providing information, so we had to be disruptive in some way," Nebraska Tourism Commission's director tells @StartHereABC. https://t.co/bZoI0Mo4Fh pic.twitter.com/N27WVDChJt

— ABC News (@ABC) October 20, 2018

Ricks told the Omaha World-Herald that the edgier, ironic tone to the marketing campaign and soon-to-come branded merchandise is a way of getting potential visitors to sit up and take notice of Nebraska, which consistently ranks as the “least likely” state tourists plan to visit.

“To make people listen, you have to hook them somehow,” Ricks said. “We had to shake people up.”

Personally, we think the campaign and forthcoming promotional products to support it are an excellent idea. We definitely want to get our hands on an “Honestly, it’s not for everyone” T-shirt. And, after also recently writing about the ingenious marketing/fan engagement campaign from the Omaha Storm Chasers, we’re ready to take a trip to Cornhusker country for a little baseball and summertime tanking.