From NY Below billboard to Justin Bieber video, NL getting lots of publicity

Newfoundland and Labrador is so hot right now.

If it isn’t a billboard popping up in Times Square — perhaps the most famous area of New York City — telling people to visit or Josh Hartnett teaching people about NL culture, it’s one of the world’s biggest pop stars sharing a popular local track on social media.

Either way, it’s the kind of publicity you can’t buy, and now it appears to be getting even bigger.

With Netflix’s Below hitting screens on Oct. 8, the province is front and centre as new people get a glimpse of what we have to offer.

Obviously, it helps if that vehicle of that discovery is Hartnett, who stars as fisherman-turned-monster hunter Calvin Penney in the fictional NL town of Snook’s Arm, but that’s not the only place the province has been seen lately.

So, where else have we been popping up lately?

One of the biggest allures for the province is the music and the people who play it.

When Canadian music icon Justin Bieber gets ahold of a track, that notoriety is sure to grow even larger.

Just this week, he made waves in a recent social media post where he used a Great Big Sea track on social media.

In an Instagram post to his over 200 million followers, the Biebs shared a photo collage of his life set to ‘I’se the B’y’.

It’s a song that references communities from all over the province and has been a staple in homes, sheds and pubs for generations.

While they certainly didn’t need the help, Great Big Sea likely has a whole new audience as Justin’s Beliebers discover the track for the first time.

It even sparked a comment from Alan Doyle, the band’s frontman, who offered greetings from his native province.

If that wasn’t enough, the province popped up in one of the world’s most famous squares as Hartnett ramped up promotion of the series.

In conjunction with the province, a billboard in Times Square in New York City promoted the film and asked if everyone’s fishermen looked like Newfoundland’s.

While they don’t all look like Hartnett, it was certainly an eye-popping way to draw attention to this rock in the middle of the Atlantic.

As if that billboard wasn’t enough, Hartnett hit the interview cycle to not only talk about what makes Below a great watch for people, but he also spent time educating the large American audience about this province.

First, there was teaching Jimmy Fallon about the Newfoundland accent while using the lyrics to ‘I’se the B’y’ as his guide.

Later, Hartnett educated Verity co-stars Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson about one of the province’s more storied traditions, the Screech-In, on CTV’s eTalk.

There, he explained to them that to become an honorary Newfoundlander, one must take a shot of Screech rum, eat bologna and kiss a frozen codfish, while repeating a flurry of lines as quickly as you can.

“Oh, that’s a lovely initiation ritual,” said Hathaway during the segment. “That’s just charming.”

Johnson was less impressed at the prospects.

Harnett’s Below co-star Charlie Heaton shared a similar story with Fallon when it was his turn to hit the late-night TV circuit.

“Newfoundland has the best people in the world” ♥️ Josh Hartnett, Mackenzie Davis, and the cast of Jesse McKeown’s BELOW share what they loved about filming in Newfoundland at the show’s #TIFF26 World Premiere. https://t.co/acc12E8ELk — TIFF (@TIFF_NET) October 8, 2026

While being able to point out places you’ve been in Below is going to be fun when you watch the show, how long is the excitement around the province going to last?

According to Google Trends, which tracks search trends globally, the searches for information about Newfoundland in the past 30 days is up 20 per cent over the previous month, and up 30 per cent over the same period last year worldwide.

The numbers are even higher in the United States, with Americans searching the term “Newfoundland” 40 per cent more in the last 30 days than they did the previous month, and over 60 per cent more than they did in the same period last year.

As they say, any publicity is good publicity, and you can’t buy what’s been offered to people across the world lately.

Any positive ripples from this surge in popularity likely won’t be seen until the start of the next tourism season.

Even if one person decides to check out where Hartnett battled a sea monster, it’ll be a good day for Newfoundland and Labrador.