Event promos fill the farm

Promotional plush alpacas prove to be crowd-pleasers

By Stephanie Lamie

Never underestimate the power of a cute animal—especially in plush form. Long Hollow Suri Alpacas opens in new window can attest to that. The Tennessee alpaca farm, dedicated to breeding, education and agritourism, held a celebration last fall that— with help from carefully chosen event promos—generated a response unlike anything it had seen before.

The farm’s Suri alpacas, known for their long locks of twisted fleece, have always been an attraction. But to draw more interest for its annual National Alpaca Farm Days event, the organization offered a giveaway for the first 25 attendees. The early-bird incentive was promoted through the farm’s social media channels and at the local chamber of commerce. The items? Plush llamas. (Llamas and alpacas look similar, so Lana Llama was renamed Lana the Alpaca.) Each Lana wore a bandana with the Long Hollow Suri Alpacas branding.

A soft reminder of every visit

After the first 25 items were handed out, attendees still had the opportunity to purchase one in the farm boutique. The response was unbelievable. “It’s hard to explain what happened,” said Shae Jarvis, farm manager. “It was as if everyone that came through the door came for Lana. I mean, we were glad that they came to see the alpacas—but we sold out of the toys within the first two hours of the weekend.”

The National Alpaca Farm Days celebration was an outstanding success. “We went from having maybe two visitors a month to having 3,000 people in two days,” Jarvis said. Even better: The success carried forward. People have continued to visit the farm to see and learn about its herd of more than 50 Suri alpacas. In the second half of 2025, the farm saw a 321% year-over-year increase in revenue from farm tours. Retail sales also increased by nearly 60%. Jarvis said those trends were kickstarted by the fall event.

“Was that weekend attendance all because of Lana? Maybe not,” Jarvis said. “I’m sure there are several reasons that people came in. But what I do know is, as they poured into the driveway that morning promptly at 9 a.m., they came through asking, ‘Am I one of the first 25?’” Cute animals get attention—and plush event promos can turn a moment of interest into momentum that lasts.