Idaho’s Wild Hearts shines in Google’s Super Bowl spotlight
When Serena Rasmussen, executive director of Wild Hearts Idaho, got a call from someone at Google saying they wanted to do a commercial about her nonprofit organization and run it during the Super Bowl, forgive her for being skeptical.
“I just got a cold call out of the blue in October,” Rasmussen told me in a phone interview Monday. “You think it’s spam when someone’s like, ‘Hello, I am so and so from Google, I would like to make a commercial for you.’ And I definitely asked, ‘Are you sure this is real?’”
It was real.
The Wild Hearts Idaho ad ran Sunday night during the Super Bowl as part of Google’s “50 states, 50 stories” ad campaign, which featured 50 commercials, each profiling a small business or nonprofit from each state, with the aim of promoting Google’s artificial intelligence, or AI, tools and services, according to a blog post about the campaign from Google.
Wild Hearts Idaho is a small, Boise-based Treasure Valley nonprofit that provides free outdoor adventures for middle and high school girls in the name of building confidence, community and leadership skills. Wild Hearts leads girls on such activities as backpacking, whitewater rafting, snowshoeing, tubing and rock climbing. Some are over multiple days, some are just day trips.
What Wild Hearts Idaho does is vital because of how important spending time outside is for mental health, reducing anxiety and depression, increasing confidence, and improving body image, Rasmussen said.
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In 2024, Wild Hearts took 93 girls on 12 outdoor adventures throughout the year — including a December campout that was captured by a film crew for the Google ad.
Rasmussen said she couldn’t be more thrilled with how the ad turned out.
“Oh, my God, it was so exciting,” she said. “It’s really cool to see the girls, they were so excited during the actual shoot, during the adventure. I was on the adventure, and we were having such a fun time in the woods, we kind of forgot that there was a film crew following us, and so being able to see it then again, and seeing all the smiles.”
Rasmussen and a couple of board members had a Super Bowl watch party, and they were told the ad would air sometime around 7 p.m. Every time there was a commercial break after 7, they waited for the ad to come on, but it was delayed a little bit, keeping them waiting, she said.
But then it did finally come on.
“I mean, I freaked out,” Rasmussen said. “I’ve seen it, so I knew what it was, and I knew it was coming. But even still, it was entirely different seeing it live, seeing it actually as a commercial. It was incredibly exciting.”
Google ad campaign
The ad campaign was different, as it involved purchasing 50 different local TV spots rather than one big national buy, according to AdWeek.
Ads included a cattle ranch in Nebraska, a sign maker in Illinois, an architect in Massachusetts, a nuts and snacks retailer in New Jersey, and a climbing gym in Utah, according to AdWeek.
Google selected the companies and nonprofits starting with those that used Google Workspace.
It’s good to see an organization like Wild Hearts Idaho get the exposure from an ad spot like this that it otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford.
I’m a firm believer in outdoor activities for everyone, but especially for kids. I had been involved in Scouts with my sons for years, and I cheered when Scouts began admitting girls. I’ve seen and experienced firsthand the restorative and confidence-building benefits of being outdoors, and they’re not gender-exclusive.
Wild Hearts Idaho has a few winter adventures coming up that still have space in them. You can learn more about them and about joining or volunteering at wildheartsidaho.org.
What you can do
Wild Hearts Idaho is hosting its annual gala at 5:30 p.m. March 6, at Barber Park Events Center. Go to their website for more information, to attend or donate.
“As a nonprofit, we’re entirely community supported,” Rasmussen said. “And if our mission resonates with anyone, we would appreciate that they help and support us and let us keep our program free and accessible to everyone and to keep running more and more adventures.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
