WEST POINT, Ga. — Super Bowl LIII put Atlanta on the world's stage, and an advertisement from Kia Motors during the third quarter of the game also put a Georgia town with a population under 4,000 in the spotlight.
During the ad, a young boy said the people living in West Point, Georgia are "unknowns."
"We aren't famous," he said. "There are no stars in the sidewalks for us. No statues in our honor. We are just a small Georgia town of complete unknowns. The closest thing to a world stage is 81 miles away in Atlanta tonight."
Wanda Moncus described it as a "thrilling" moment.
"For us to see all the things, and see the people that you knew - because I knew a lot of people in the commercial," Moncus said.
She was born and raised in the West Point area and works in the small town, which sits along the Georgia-Alabama border.
To an outsider, being labeled as "complete unknowns" might be considered offensive. In West Point, though, recognition isn't expected. Moncus said being called unknowns fits.
"Because what he was really meaning that, we aren't famous people, that our faces aren't plastered all over the media all the time," she described. "We are just ordinary people, doing ordinary things and just making a difference for the world, really."
Once known as a textile industry town for many decades, West Point's textile days ended by the mid 1980's and tens-of-thousands of jobs disappeared. As the jobs left many businesses in downtown West Point closed.
"Then Coach's came in here two or three years ago," Cam Tremell said, while pointing at the restaurant. Tremell is the son of West Point's mayor.
Tremell pointed to several other businesses which have opened recently and also Point University - which relocated its residential campus from the Atlanta metro area to West Point.
"Half these buildings that are down here have been restored and just revitalized and brought back into a good light, and it has just really helped," Tremell said.
West Point's revitalization began after a 2006 announcement of Kia's plans to build a manufacturing plant in the area. The plant opened in 2010.
"Kia brought the money, Kia brought just some energy, and I would throw in there, they brought the people," Tremell mentioned.
Rogers Bar-B-Que has been a local favorite serving lunch and dinner for more than 70 years in West Point. The restaurant made a quick cameo in Kia's Super Bowl ad. The staff at Rogers said the ad captured the work ethic of the blue-collar workers at the Kia plant and around the rest of West Point.
"I hope that it shows that we are just down to earth small town people," Ashley McGowan said. "We are super friendly. We all get along. It is a good place to live."
"It is very accurate," James Driver said. "This town is slowly growing. There is a lot of opportunity here and a lot more to do here now."
In addition to the Super Bowl ad, Kia uploaded a 5-minute long documentary to YouTube detailing West Point's history.
Both the commercial on TV and the documentary feature the people of West Point, instead of celebratory endorsements - as many other Super Bowl ads rely on.
In a press release, Kia announced the company is creating The Great Unknowns Scholarship to "assist eligible students who plan to continue their education in college or vocational school programs."