Feb. 6, 2025

Nancy Kirstein almost missed the chance to be in the Super Bowl.

It all started with an email asking her if she used Google Workspace and if she wanted to be part of something bigger.

“I completely disregarded it because it looked like spam,” said Kirstein, who owns and operates The Good Earth Farm south of Lennox with her husband, Jeff.

A few hours later, her sister-in-law messaged her – she had a friend who was working with Google, and they were trying to find businesses in all 50 states for an ad campaign.

That email was legit.

And so was the something bigger.

“Most people probably use Google Workspace,” Kirstein said. “I have a paid version of it for the farm, and I realized I use it all the time for email and documents.”

She responded, eventually got a phone call and learned that Google was working on a commercial in every state. She still didn’t know exactly what it would entail or where it would air.

“I figured it would be some kind of digital ad promoting their Workspace,” Kirstein said. “But then as we were talking and the process we went through, I thought, ‘this seems like more than what I’m used to.’”

That included things like background checks and legal agreements. They landed on a time to come shoot, and the crew showed up. It was November, in the middle of the week and freezing out. Filming took 11 hours.

“I couldn’t understand why they were doing this in the winter,” Kirstein said. “Come back when it’s warm and gorgeous out.”

After all, that’s when a pizza farm and animal sanctuary is at its best.

Kirstein admits it was all a bit chaotic at first.

“I missed somewhere that it was going to air during the Super Bowl,” she said with a laugh. “So then when they told me, I about died.”

The commercial shows the farm, some of the animals who live there and many of the people who make summer evenings there a success. Kirstein reached out to friends and neighbors to come over for the video shoot. “Nobody asked any questions – they just said yes, we’ll come out on a Tuesday afternoon when it’s freezing cold to do this and eat pizza and drink beer,” she said.

“The animals kind of became the focus of the commercial. They don’t care if it’s cold out,” she said. “They’re a huge part of the experience, and they are definitely part of our story. And I think that’s why people come here – so they can experience the pizza and the animals and be in a space like this.”

Kirstein said the final product was great to see.

“It made me feel really proud of what we have accomplished out here,” she said. “Just to see it through someone else’s lens was so cool. They did a good job capturing what it feels like to be out here.”

The YouTube page for the commercials shows the ones for every state. Kirstein thinks they did a good job finding a variety of people with a focus on small businesses.

She laughs.

“I answered an email, and here we are.”

The commercial will air on FOX during the Super Bowl. A larger compilation will air nationally. “I’m in there for like a split second,” Kirstein said. “In that one, I’m throwing a bale of straw.”

She said she’s proud to represent the state.

“Maybe we aren’t what people think of when they think of farming – we’re a place to gather,” Kirstein said. “We are a place to bring community together, and that’s always been our focus, even when we were growing vegetables. It’s about supporting community and being supported by a community, and I think that’s very South Dakota.”