Wisconsin Cheese Mart Featured in Super Bowl Ad
Milwaukee store expects a bump in online sales after Google AI ad runs.
Image from Google ad.
A Milwaukee-based cheese store will be in the national spotlight on Sunday during one of the many Super Bowl ads.
Ken McNulty, owner of Wisconsin Cheese Mart, said this isn’t their first time being featured by Google. His company was in a 2018 ad talking about how they used Google’s products to grow their online sales.
He’s expecting at least a small bump in online sales after the new ad runs during Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
“We should be able to handle anything that this ad throws at us,” McNulty said. “This time of year, we’re pretty slow. Obviously, it’s right after the holidays, so not a lot of online sales.”
Ken McNulty said Google’s Gemini has helped him save time as a small business that relies primarily on online sales. Screenshot from Google ad
When McNulty took over the business in 2003, he said online sales only represented about 5 percent of their business. Today, he sells around 90 percent of his cheese online, with many sales coming from customers who first visited their second location in Madison.
“People don’t carry Limburger anymore in cheese stores,” he said. “So it continues to grow because we’re able to find those Limburger customers wherever they are.”
As AI becomes more commonplace, the tools have faced criticism for generating false responses, often called “hallucinations.” Google’s original ad about Wisconsin Cheese Mart was called out on social media platform X for appearing to contain one of these inaccuracies. The ad’s example of an AI-generated description for gouda claimed that the Dutch-style cheese accounted for “50 to 60 percent of the world’s cheese consumption.”
McNulty said the statistic was not made-up by Gemini as the tweet claimed but was pulled from another website. He asked Google to change the ad after hearing about the mistake.
But McNulty stands by Gemini and other AI tools, saying any website or online tool requires the same amount of factchecking.
“It’s pretty darn good for a tool,” he said. “It’s not perfect, but don’t let perfection get away with progress, because it is progress.”
While he’s preparing for his moment in the spotlight, McNulty said he is also keeping busy filling orders for people preparing to host Super Bowl watch parties. And he has a few opinions about the perfect cheeses to pair with beer and football.
For those rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles, McNulty suggests a Colby cheese that will be perfect for melting over any cheesesteak-inspired foods.
Wisconsin Cheese Mart featured in national Super Bowl ad was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Existing members must be signed in to see the interactive map. Sign in.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
