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The bacon squealer, maple-frosted doughnuts topped with strips of bacon, are one of the most talked-about items for sale in the bakery at Cops & Doughnuts, 521 N. McEwan, in Clare.

(Colleen Harrison | MLive.com file)

Update: Clare's Cops & Doughnuts out of the running for Super Bowl TV ad



CLARE, MI — Clare's Cops & Doughnuts is on Intuit Inc.'s list of 20 finalists competing for a 30-second Super Bowl commercial, paid for by Intuit.



The California-based software company received nearly 15,000 entries and has selected 20 small businesses from among them. Those 20 small businesses are competing for a 30-second custom TV advertisement to air during football’s biggest game on Sunday, Feb. 2, company officials report.

“We had the challenging task of narrowing the playing field from thousands of incredible, deserving small businesses to 20,” Ken Wach, vice president of marketing, Intuit Small Business Group said in a prepared statement. “In the end, these semi-finalists will help put all small businesses on a national stage and demonstrate their contributions to our economy with their amazing stories.”

Cops & Doughnuts, located at 521 N. McEwan and self-described as 100 percent cop-owned, is the only small business from Michigan on the top 20 list.

Cops & Doughnuts offerings include, breads, cookies, turnovers, coffee and doughnuts, among them the bacon squealer, described as an unfilled long John with maple frosting and two strips of bacon.

Its headquarters are in Clare, where everything is baked. Cops & Doughnuts has two other shops the owners refer to as "precincts" in Alma and Harrison. The company also provides about 30 convenience stores, gas stations and restaurants, referred to as "official sub-stations," with baked goods.

President and retired Clare police officer Greg "Ryno" Rynearson said the business has grown exponentially since nine police officers opened it about four and a half years ago.

Last year, about 350,000 people visited Cops & Doughnuts, he said. He expects this year's visitor count to reach 500,000.

"We've always been confident and positive in everything we did," Rynearson said. "Everywhere we go they love our story, they love what we're doing."

Adding, "We have become a tourist destination in Michigan."

Intuit’s 8,000 employees are to view all 20 semi-finalists’ submissions and vote. Their votes are to determine the final four, which the company plans to announce Monday, Nov. 11.

The public can then vote online on the Small Business Big Game website through Dec. 1 to select the winner.

Rynearson said he's expecting to receive a call Friday, Nov. 8, letting him know whether Cops & Doughnuts is among the top four. The Super Bowl ad will cost Intuit about $4 million, he said.

"We're confident we're going to make it," he said.

— Heather Jordan covers business for MLive/The Saginaw News/Bay City Times. She can be reached at 989-450-2652 or hjordan@mlive.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.