Getty Images, Land O'Lakes Take a Fresh Look at Rural America

Closing the gap between perception and reality with OOH set to tour major cities

Industry pros attending the 2026 edition of Advertising Week in New York expecting to absorb big-city highlights in Times Square also got a potent dose of rural Americana courtesy of Getty Images, Land O’Lakes and Clear Channel Outdoor.

Scenes of small-town life flashed across outdoor digital displays to illustrate the scope and diversity of rural communities. The OOH featured selections from “Repicturing Rural,” an initiative that launched last year. Modern Rural Collective assisted with project development.

“There were three dimensions where we found rural communities experienced the most visual stereotyping,” Tristen Norman, head of creative for the Americas region at Getty, tells Muse.

Namely, “What the people who live in rural America are like; what these rural places look and feel like; and how people in rural places go about the activities of everyday life,” she says.

“Repicturing Rural” seeks to dispel misconceptions and expand the public consciousness. Moreover, the image and video bank—with 3,500 pieces from 38 artists and photographers—serves as an up-to-date, highly varied resource for agencies, brands and media.

The OOH represents an effort to put creators and the public in the picture about rural realities, hyping Getty’s ability to provide timely, truthful and transcendent depictions of existence beyond the downtown sprawl.

“Every region of the United States has rural communities, from New England to Appalachia, to the South, to the Midwest, to the Pacific Northwest and so on,” says Norman. “And with each of these regions comes a unique set of demographics, variety in the industries that power their economies and different ways of socializing and having fun. This is the richness and diversity that’s still missed in rural storytelling.”

What’s more, “There’s also many things rural communities have in common with urban and suburban communities that are often left out of visuals: the quotidian activities of everyday life. Going to school or work, hanging with friends, having hobbies, enjoying leisure time, all the things we all do regardless of where we live.”

“At launch we addressed certain topics and scenarios in demand or being left out of rural storytelling by creating bespoke visual content on behalf of Land O’Lakes,” Norman says. Home cooking, local sports teams, small business owners, retired veterans, modern farming, Gen Z friend groups and women’s leisure activities came into play.

Since then, “We’ve expanded to additional themes since then, capturing new content of couples at home, local rural outings, Gen Z lifestyle, winter activities and more.”

So, how should brands rethink visuals for folks outside big cities?

“Some questions and areas to consider when building a more complete picture of rural America can be: When location scouting for shoots, why aren’t those shoots happening in rural places or of rural families?” Norman says. “Roughly 46 million Americans live in rural communities, and many of them are part of family units.”

“You want to focus on your Gen Z audience in a campaign? Cast a Gen Zer in a rural place. Getty Images’ VisualGPS research reveals that about 14 percent of Gen Zers live in rural areas yet only 5 percent of visuals show rural teenagers.”

“Furthermore, 2 in 3 rural Americans believe that advertisers don’t understand them, while only 5 percent of popular U.S. visuals are set in rural locations.”

The OOH push will soon extend to Philadelphia, Minneapolis and other markets, timed to National Farmer’s Day on Oct. 12.

Related: What It’s Like to Photograph the 2026 World Cup for Getty Images