How Anna, Texas, Went Viral (for Better and Worse) and Pulled Off a Huge Win
A Blippi-inspired campaign sparked controversy, went viral, and turned a new event into a massive success
What happens when you mix a viral children’s YouTube sensation with local government? If you’re the City of Anna, Texas, you get a social media campaign so successful it made national waves (for better and worse) and drew an unexpected 2,000 people to a family-friendly event.
For those unfamiliar, Anna is one of the fastest-growing cities in America—recently ranked No. 4 in the country. Located about 45 minutes north of DFW International Airport, its population has nearly doubled in just four years, from 16,000 in 2020 to close to 30,000 today. It’s a city packed with young families, which means an event like Touch-a-Truck isn’t just fun, it’s a essential way for the city to connect with its newest residents and introduce them to their local government in a positive, hands-on way.
Government work isn’t always fun. Infrastructure, budgets, public safety—it’s serious business. But sometimes, the best way to engage the community is to let loose and get a little silly. That’s exactly what Anna’s communications team, led by the formidable Frances LaRue, did when they launched a playful Blippi spoof campaign to promote their Touch-a-Truck event.
And boy, did it work.
🚜 The Problem: A Brand-New Event with No Footage, No Buzz
Anna’s Touch-a-Truck event was brand new, meaning the city had no past photos, no b-roll, and no content to repurpose. They needed a way to build excitement, fast.
Instead of taking the usual “static flyer with a list of attractions” approach, LaRue, Anna’s Public Affairs Manager, had an unconventional idea:
“What if we spoofed Blippi?”
For the uninitiated, Blippi is a wildly popular children’s entertainer who tours vehicles, construction sites, and other fun places while enthusiastically explaining how things work. He wears silly clothes. He dances silly dances. He talks in a silly voice. In other words, he’s perfect for the preschool demographic. His videos rack up millions of views on YouTube Kids.
Frances figured: Why not have city employees dress up and give Blippi-style tours of their vehicles to promote Touch-a-Truck? It was a joke at first, but before long, real volunteers from multiple departments stepped up to make it happen.
🚔 The Pushback: Some People Just Can’t Have Nice Things
The first Blippi spoof video featured a newly promoted police sergeant. It went viral—big time.
Locally, families loved it. But nationally? A different story.
The video made its way into some of the more traditional corners of the online law enforcement world, where it was met with skepticism (and in some cases, outright hostility). TradLEOs—my term for the “law enforcement should be all serious, all the time” crowd—were not amused. You know the type.
Some (even internally at Anna PD) accused the officer of making the department look foolish. Others latched onto minor details (like the fact his uniform hadn’t yet been updated with his new rank) and cried “stolen valor.”
Despite the noise, the team in Anna stuck to their plan.
“If we had stopped at the police video because of the negativity, we would have had an embarrassing moment that stayed embarrassing,” Frances told me. “Instead, we followed through, and it turned into a huge success.”
The video is GovComms gold, people. It’s a real cop going above and beyond the call of duty to help his city promote an event that encourages residents to meet their public servants up close and personal.
The Jack Webb fanboys can get their tighty whities in a wad all day long when you produce a video that awesome—and effective. To wit:
🚛 The Payoff: 2,000 People Showed Up to Meet Their Public Servants
The campaign shattered expectations. The video series racked up over 1.5 million views globally. Even a year later, they remain in the Top 10 performing videos on Anna’s Facebook page.
More importantly, they worked.
Anna had hoped for 500 people at Touch-a-Truck. They got 2,000.
And while the public turnout was incredible, the biggest winners might have been the city employees themselves.
For non-paid subscribers: Enjoying this post? You’re only getting half the story. Paid subscribers get full access to the rest of this deep dive, including:
🔹 Why pushing forward—even when the critics get loud—can turn a risky idea into a big win
🔹 The unsung heroes of public works who finally got the recognition they deserved
🔹 The key lessons every local government communicator can apply to their own work
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