ALBANY — Have you seen the Albany County tourism commercial? The one that will repeatedly air on ESPN during the Aurora Games?

It is ... I'm trying to be kind here ... not so hot.

Now, I'm no Don Draper, but I have seen a few commercials in my decades of television watching. I have a decent understanding of what they're trying to do.

They want to interest the viewer in Coca-Cola, Doritos, Disneyland or whatever else they're pitching. They're trying to make a product seem so desirable that the unwitting consumer can't help but want it.

The new tourism commercial, which you can watch on YouTube, does not accomplish this goal. It will not make Albany County seem like something a national audience desires.

Some of you will suggest that you can't put eyeliner on a pig. You'll say the ad can't help but fail because it's selling an unattractive product.

I disagree. Albany and its county have an interesting story to tell and a tremendous amount to offer. Beautiful urban neighborhoods. Great little ethnic restaurants. Gorgeous countryside. Lovely small towns such as Altamont and Rensselaerville.

You won't find any of that in the 30-second commercial, which opens with video of the Empire State Plaza before moving on to tempt its audience with lingering footage of "our modern vibrant airport," the Times Union Center, the convention center and old dinosaur bones at the New York State Museum.

Notice what those sites have in common?

They're all government buildings. Given that the Albany County Capital Resource Corporation paid for the ad, there's a point to be made here about government officials' heightened sense of self worth. They think government is the best thing about the area.

Maybe it is, but nobody goes to a city to check out the local government complex. Tourists want to see quirky streets and visit cool shops. They want to soak up local character. They want beauty and history and color and charm.

To put it another way, they want Lark Street and Center Square. They'll be more interested in the Warehouse District than the convention center.

The commercial is set to air as part of a $200,000 sponsorship the corporation paid to the Aurora Games through SMG, the company that manages the Times Union Center. In fairness, it does include video of the City Beer Hall downtown, followed by still shots of Washington and Thacher parks, arts organizations, and the local shopping malls.

Malls? Malls??!!

With all due respect to Crossgates and Colonie Center, perfectly fine malls both, they are not what makes Albany unique or interesting. Every city has a shopping mall or two or three and, with a few exceptions, they are interchangeable.

I would not travel to Buffalo to visit the Walden Galleria in suburbia. I might go to Buffalo to spend the day on Elmwood Avenue.

Of course, much of what makes Elmwood compelling is the people you find there. Save for the occasional hermit or agoraphobe, people like to be around people.

Strangely, though, the Albany County tourism ad includes few of them. With audio of tinny music and a cheesy narrator, it depicts a mostly empty Empire State Plaza and a completely vacant Washington Park. In the video of the Times Union Center, there is one lonely car motoring down South Pearl and no pedestrians on the sidewalk.

Why in name of Erastus Corning would anyone visit an empty city? Why not show ... oh, I don't know ... Washington Park during Tulip Fest? An Alive at Five concert? Why not display life and vitality? Broadway in Saratoga, maybe, or the Troy Farmers Mark...

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Oops. They aren't in Albany County.

Somewhat gingerly, I mentioned a few of these criticisms to Gary Domalewicz, an Albany County legislator who, as chairman of the Capital Resource Corporation board, played a big role in the making of the ad. Domalewicz was so darn earnest and open to suggestions about the commercial that I feel guilty knocking it.

"This is our first time attempting this," Domalewicz said. "We can certainly tweak it, and the next one will be better than this one."

The next one?

Oh, yes. Domalewicz is considering a second ad that will air locally during the Christmas season and attempt to draw shoppers from across the region to Albany County.

The bad news is the first ad really is a missed opportunity. Albany doesn't get many chances to show itself to a national audience and a poorly done ad risks reinforcing negative stereotypes. "That looks like a boring government town," somebody in Boise or Dayton or Binghamton may say.

The good news is that the ad isn't costing county taxpayers anything except embarrassment. SMG was paid a measly $2,000 to make it, which proves the old adage: You get what you pay for.

cchurchill@timesunion.com ■ 518-454-5442 ■ @chris_churchill