New video cites Route 66 as a reason for Tulsa to land a Tesla truck plant

Tulsa is vying to land a new Tesla Motors truck plant against Austin, Texas. Tulsa looked for a way to separate itself from its competitor.

With the help of the Route 66 Alliance and founder Michael Wallis, they came up with this two-minute video:

Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, voiced his approval of Tulsa’s efforts on Twitter:

Rhys Martin, president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association, weighed in on the video approvingly:

I gotta admit, Wallis’ baritone voice alone in the video makes a compelling case. After all, he’s done a ton of voice-overs over the decades, including as the Sheriff of Radiator Springs in the 2006 Disney-Pixar film “Cars.” He also wrote the seminal “Route 66: The Mother Road” book in 1990.

And kudos to Tulsa-based Signal Factory for its top-notch production of the video.

The Tulsa World newspaper published a story about the video and its genesis to land the Tesla truck plant that would create 10,000 jobs:

“We had to ask ourselves what really sets Tulsa apart and what can Tulsa offer that Austin simply can’t?” said Cullen Koger, creative director at the Bear Agency Group, a public relations firm that is helping the state make its case to the electric car company. […]
It’s not so much the road itself that should impress Musk, Koger said. It’s the “attitude” that the road represents.
“It’s about the open road. It’s about adventure and ambition,” Koger said. “There’s an element of taking a risk and ‘getting the job done.’ And that’s a shared vision that Tulsa has with Tesla.”

Tulsa and Austin should know in a few weeks, if not days, whether either is chosen for the factory site.

UPDATE 7/22/2020: Tesla announced it would locate its plant in Austin instead.

(Screen-capture image from video of Michael Wallis with a Tesla car at the Avery Centennial Plaza in Tulsa)