The state’s new image brand — “Kansas: As big as you think” — is more expensive than once thought.

The $1.7 million advertising campaign to present a positive image of Kansas was unveiled today in simultaneous news conferences across the state.

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But news and details of the campaign had been inadvertently released earlier this week.

At that time, state officials noted that they had received $700,000 to spend on the campaign, and used additional funds, but didn’t say how much.

On Friday, Sally Lunsford, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Commerce, said the total tab for the campaign during its roll-out was $1.7 million.

State boosters said it was money well-spent.

Richard Forester, president of the Topeka Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the campaign was more than just a slogan.

The campaign will include television and radio ads that will start running Sunday across the state.

Those ads, featuring historical figures President Eisenhower, and aviatrix Amelia Earhart, both of Kansas, are aimed at promoting the wide open spaces that shaped their lives, and instilling pride in Kansas among Kansans.

Then the campaign will place ads in national magazines to try to attract tourists and businesses.

“Our goal was to design a strong, dynamic, durable, and flexible brand for the state of Kansas,” Forester said during a news conference at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site.

Becky Blake, of the Manattan Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Kansans don’t know how attractive the state is to out-of-state tourists.

“People want to experience what Kansas has to offer,” she said.

Callahan Creek, the Lawrence advertising agency, is handling the campaign.

John Kuefler, vice president of client services at the company, said the campaign was developed after “voluminous research.”

“It’s very evocative,” he said of the television ads.

The roll-out to the campaign has been rocky. Some have said the slogan is less than inspiring.

But Kuefler said any tagline can be lampooned, such as Nike’s famous “Just do it.” By itself, he said, the slogan doesn’t mean much, but backed up by the Nike ad campaign, it is effective, he said.

Lunsford, with the Commerce Department, said the agency will seek another $1.7 million in the next fiscal year to continue the campaign. She said funding for the project so far have come from lottery sales revenue that is diverted to the agency.