Utah is using a few flakes — probably not anyone you know — to get the attention of tourists from outside the state.

The Utah Office of Tourism has launched its winter TV and interactive marketing campaign, using people dressed up like snowflakes as the main characters in a set of TV spots aimed at getting snow-lovers to visit Utah this season.

Leigh von der Esch, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism, said the new ad approach "cuts us out of the clutter of just having another skier in the latest colors during a nice cut through powder."

"Value, accessibility and the greatest snow on Earth had to be part of the equation," she said. "So how do we say that in a way that breaks us out the clutter? I think this is exactly what did."

One ad features snowflake tryouts, with four pristine-white flakes jumping gleefully from a cloud after being told, "You're going to Utah!" while dirty flakes remain on the cloud. Another has flakes landing on one another and proclaiming, "I made it! Utah! It's the single greatest moment of my life!" In another, two descending flakes get stuck together after trying a high-five.

"Strategically, Utah is all about the greatest snow on Earth, and this is just a funny way to have that be portrayed, as opposed to showing the deep powder shots, which I love but aren't unique," said Steve Driggs, creative director at Salt Lake-based Struck, the agency that produced the 30-second ads.

The ads can be viewed at utah.travel/snowflake.

The TV spots have begun airing on several national cable channels — HGTV, A&E, History, Bravo, MSNBC, Bravo, Metro Networks, National Geographic and TLC — and will run three weeks, until Nov. 26, with 32 percent in prime time. Ads slated for Los Angeles began Monday and will run for two weeks on five local stations. Thirty-one percent will be in prime time.

The TV campaign, costing more than $1.5 million, is expected to generate a total of about 167 million "impressions," meaning the number of people exposed to the ads.

The $1.66 million TV/interactive campaign includes $107,500 in online ads expected to yield 10.7 million impressions. They will run from Nov. 27 through Dec. 1 and Jan 5 through Jan. 26 on TripAdvisor.com, iExplore.com, Go Travel Media, Burst Networks and Gorp.com.

The TV/interactive campaign is part of nearly $3.8 million in spending to market Utah to wintertime visitors. Other elements include the state tourism Web site, ski partner Web sites, sponsorship of the new Warren Miller ski film "Children of Winter," ads in Sky and other magazines, and a 90-second video shown on all Delta flights.

Promoting Utah skiing began in August and will continue through February, von der Esch said.

"Right now, people are looking for value," she said, "and to be able to rent a car and be half-hour from a ski resort saves you hassle, time and money, which I think in today's world everybody is looking for."

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E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com