The new Illinois tourism campaign is called the "Middle Of Everything," and it's designed to help Illinois re-boost our state's call to come and visit after dealing with two years of the pandemic.

If you're going to hire a celebrity spokesperson, it's a good idea to grab someone who was born in Evergreen Park, raised in Dolton, went to Thornridge High School, and got her 1st theater degree from Illinois State University before getting her master's degree from Cornell.

In other words, you want Jane Lynch.

Enjoy Illinois, Facebook
Enjoy Illinois, Facebook
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Getty Images
Getty Images
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Illinois' New Tourism Campaign Focuses On History, Culture, And Food

According to a release from EnjoyIllinois.com, Jane Lynch will "serve as a tour guide in the advertisements, showing off attractions in Chicago, Springfield, Shawnee National Forest, Pontiac and more. The Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum, the Cozy Dog Drive-In, the Garden of the Gods, and several Chicago landmarks will all make appearances in the ads, which will run in 20 markets across Illinois and in seven neighboring states."

There's even a plan in place to run those Illinois tourism ads on cable networks nationwide.

Let's take a look at a couple of those ads, which were also directed by Jane Lynch:

The first run of the new campaign will air advertising this week here in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Kentucky. The state is hoping to see an even better return on this campaign than we did with the last one, which brought in about $200 million in revenue for Illinois.

31 Photos Proving There's No Illinois Town More Beautiful Than Galena

LOOK: Here are the 25 best places to live in Illinois

Stacker compiled a list of the best places to live in Illinois using data from Niche. Niche ranks places to live based on a variety of factors including cost of living, schools, health care, recreation, and weather. Cities, suburbs, and towns were included. Listings and images are from realtor.com.

On the list, there's a robust mix of offerings from great schools and nightlife to high walkability and public parks. Some areas have enjoyed rapid growth thanks to new businesses moving to the area, while others offer glimpses into area history with well-preserved architecture and museums. Keep reading to see if your hometown made the list.

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