‘Push, Nevada’ could, well, help push Nevada

Grace Leong

Thursday, Aug. 29, 2002 | 11:04 a.m.

Recently posted billboards touting "Visit Push, Nevada" and "visitpush.com" have done more than pique the curiosity of Las Vegas residents.

They're generating a buzz about a new television series that Las Vegas and Nevada tourism promoters hope will bring attention to the state much like "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" has brought to Las Vegas.

Nevada tourism officials, in fact, are looking to see if they can tie in with the "Push" program in order to bring extra publicity to the state.

Nearly a dozen billboards were placed by Lamar Outdoor Advertising Co. throughout the Las Vegas Valley in the past month to generate awareness and excitement about "Push, Nevada," ABC's new interactive reality television series that's expected to air this fall.

ABC said the series is being advertised nationally on the ABC network and in newspapers and radio networks nationwide, but billboards are being used only in Las Vegas.

The series, written by actor Ben Affleck and producer Sean Bailey, revolves around a murder mystery based in the fictional remote desert town of Push, Nev., and includes a game-show element -- viewers can help to put clues together to solve the mystery and also win a $1 million prize.

Push is described as a town where neighborhood couples indulge in synchronized romance at 9:15 p.m. each night and where the town's only casino, the Versailles, pays out the biggest jackpots in the state and where the lonely look for companionship at "Sloman's," a slow-dance bar.

Indeed, first-time visitors to the "visitpush.com" website -- which describes the lifestyle of Push and its businesses, entertainment venues and civic groups and even includes a phone number to a Push Chamber of Commerce -- may wonder if the town really exists.

Television advertisements about the series and previews of the program are yielding clues about the billboards and the show's content.

"I knew of the "Push, Nevada" series through E!Entertainment Tonight. I've also seen trailers of the upcoming season premiere of the series on ABC," said Katherine Levy, spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce,

The Nevada Film Commission's efforts to draw the series' producers to film in the state haven't been successful, said Charlie Geocaris, head of the Commission. Filming of the series is being done entirely in California, he said.

"We've had 500 productions filmed in Nevada and we wanted "Push, Nevada" to be the 501st," he said. "We sent them a packet of information about the advantages of filming here, but the show's producers never took us up on our pitch."

Describing "Push, Nevada" as a "very clever advertising gimmick that can only do good things for Nevada," Levy said she doesn't know how the series will be received but said it has the potential to promote Nevada to the world as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," a top-rated CBS drama, has created awareness about Las Vegas.

"The number of phone calls I had received each day from people wanting to know where CSI is filming is astronomical," she said. "I was getting at least five or six phone calls a week between September and November 2001. Most of the CSI series was filmed in California, only a small portion was filmed in Nevada."

"I foresee getting a lot of phone calls asking where Push is and how to get there and when the show is being filmed," Levy quipped.

Erika Brandvik, spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said Nevada, particularly its rural towns, could benefit from the promotional nature of the series' name.

"The series' producers couldn't have picked a better name to promote Nevada, which may or may not have been their intention. We ourselves are trying to 'Push, Las Vegas,' but 'Push, Nevada,' will do too," Brandvik said. "No publicity is bad publicity. Even a fictional town could generate public interest. People will be wondering if Push is based on some little town in Nevada."

"The series is also great advertising for casino gaming," said Brandvik, referring to the fictional Versailles casino.

"Ben Affleck is reportedly a big fan of Vegas and is known for frequenting some of our more glamorous casinos. So it's not surprising that he would create a show for TV that would involve some aspect of what he likes about Vegas: the Wild West mystique and the gaming angle," she said.

Chris Chrystal, media relations manager with the Nevada Commission on Tourism, said it will "explore every possible avenue to promote Nevada's tourism interests and goals of Nevada through the "Push, Nevada" series."

"For example, in a movie set, they'll have a living room, and on the wall they could have a great big picture of the Las Vegas skyline, or they could have someone walking past a store which will have a big poster on the window saying"National Finals Rodeo, Las Vegas," she said.