MISSOULA, Mont. — In the scores of obituaries and tributes that have poured out since David Lynch’s death at age 78 last week, one of his final projects has gone largely unmentioned.
It also was a full-circle project of sorts for the Missoula-born visionary filmmaker.
There was no red carpet, no mention on IMDB and many of Lynch’s fans outside of Montana may not have even seen it.
But during the third quarter of the Super Bowl in February 2024, some Montanans were treated to Lynch’s return to their TV screens as the voice of a commercial for Noteworthy Paper & Press, a Missoula-based stationery store.
“Hello, I’m David Lynch, with a word on paper,” the black-and-white commercial began.
The 30-second spot featured images of the store and its owners with a brief message from Lynch, as music plays that’s slightly reminiscent of the theme song from “Twin Peaks,” the hit 1990s TV show he co-wrote and directed.
“It was an honor to have David Lynch’s voice on our commercial,” said Amy Dolan, who co-founded the shop in 2008. “It’s what every small business owner dreams of, to take advantage of these larger platforms, and especially with these larger names.”
An Intriguing Message On Instagram
How did a pair of small business owners score a Hollywood legend talking about their small business in an ad airing on local TV markets during the all-important Super Bowl — and free of charge, to boot?
It all started with an intriguing message on Instagram in January 2024.
A representative from MNTN, a company that builds advertising software, reached out to the Noteworthy founders because it was looking for a small business to serve as a test case.
The Austin-based company co-founded by actor Ryan Reynolds wanted to assess whether a small business might benefit more from the same ad, depending on whether it aired during the most-watched event of the year or if it targeted likely customers via streaming platforms.
MNTN landed on Missoula because of the city’s high concentration of small businesses, and on Noteworthy because of the attractive visuals of its custom letterpress services, as Dolan recalled.
“It was one of those opportunities where you nod, say yes and hope it goes well,” she said.
Things transpired quickly once the Noteworthy founders agreed to the project, and a creative crew descended on Missoula within days for the commercial shoot.
The same day that the commercial was shot, the folks from MNTN announced they’d found a big-name hometown connection — of which there are many to choose from — to do the voiceover: Lynch.
One week after that first Instagram message, Noteworthy had its very first commercial.
An Ad that Spoke To Lynch Fans
While Dolan said Lynch’s film and TV credits aren’t her “go-to genre,” she had seen some episodes of “Twin Peaks” and was well aware of how beloved he was by fans and his Missoula connection.
Still, Noteworthy’s brush with Hollywood fame has become a fun story to talk about.
Lynch’s involvement in the commercial has led to some funny conversations in the year since it first aired, Dolan said, with people coming into the shop to ask how it all came together.
“David Lynch fans were drawn to it,” she said.
The commercial likely resonated with fans because of the message Lynch conveyed, to “rediscover the tangible” in a digital era of screens and pixels.
The visionary filmmaker once lamented the “sadness” of people thinking they’d experienced watching a film if they watched it on their telephone. Lynch was a longtime practitioner of Transcendental Meditation.
He founded the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace in 2005.
Even if Dolan never met Lynch, she emphasized what an honor it was to have such a legendary voice telling the story of her small business in its first-ever commercial.
Notable For Noteworthy
As for MNTN’s test, Dolan said she wasn’t sure there was a definitive conclusion of which ad performed better in the different mediums.
No matter, the ad proved notable for Noteworthy: There was an immediate uptick in traffic to the business’s website in the days following the Super Bowl, some of which translated to sales, while the business saw an increased social media following as the ad began popping up on streaming platforms in the weeks that followed.
“It did help us a lot in the greater scheme of things,” Dolan said. “It was great how it all came together.”
David Lynch (Getty Images) 
David Lynch was a Hollywood legend with scores of credits to his name. So how did a small Montana stationary story land Lynch to voice over a TV ad — for free — that aired during the Super Bowl? (Courtesy Noteworthy Paper and Press) 
David Lynch (Getty Images)
