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Grain producers Greg and Ryan Lee, members from Union County, don’t have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but they might be on their way to some recognition in the Buckeye State. They appear in television ads that are currently on-air in Columbus, Cleveland/Akron, Lima and Zanesville. The ads are targeted toward nonfarm, rural residents and will run through March 11.

The two ads show the relationship between Farm Bureau working on behalf of farmers and how this helps consumers. The commercials use a split screen technique to show the consumer talking about his or her concerns and the farmer going about his farming business, then the two meeting in the end to agree on their common thoughts.

In Ryan Lee’s commercial, a man is repairing his lawn tractor and talking about things he would like to see fixed, such as more alternative fuel production and protection of property rights. Simultaneously, Ryan is busy feeding lambs, listening to the man’s concerns. At the end of the ad, Ryan says "Me too" and reaches across the "screen" to hand the man a towel to wipe his hands.

In Greg Lee’s commercial, a mother expresses her desire to know more about how her food is produced and who produces it. She even proposes the idea of a Web site where she could go to find locally produced foods (a reference to the OurOhio.org Buying Local Directory). Using the split screen technique, Greg Lee is busy moving apples in an orchard. At the end of the commercial, he puts an apple on the mother’s countertop and says "I agree."

The ads are running to complement this month’s membership kickoffs and the new Grow With Farm Bureau campaign, which includes the new 1-888-GrowWithFB phone number and GrowWithFB.org Web site. Grow with Farm Bureau is a sales-oriented effort to allow nonmembers, including nonmember farmers, consumers and Nationwide customers, to access membership information 24 hours a day, seven days a week via a membership call center and the Web site.

In addition, six membership radio commercials were placed on 34 stations statewide during February and full-page print ads have been purchased in statewide farm publications. The ad theme "Join an Organization that Works as Hard as You" emphasizes how Farm Bureau works on behalf of members and offers member benefits such as Nationwide insurance to protect assets and money savings through Grainger, Dodge and the Workers’ Compensation Group Rating Program. Direct mail postcards will be sent to new member prospects later this month, featuring this same type of information.