KIESTER — The small town of Kiester is embracing the attention from a national TV commercial for hemorrhoid medication set in their town.

The 15-second commercial for Preparation H features a woman impressed by the town as she bicycles past its grocery store, movie theater and fire hall.

The company is holding a thank-you party for the town today.

Head of the town’s historical society Al Bauman said the closing of Kiester’s last school in 2008 was a blow to the Faribault County town with a population of 501, making any publicity welcome.

Mayor Doug Trytten said the City Council unanimously granted the company to explore filming in the town. Trytten appears in the commercial.

Kelly Sherer, a senior brand manager for Preparation H, said that residents were open to the commercial being shot in their town once they were reassured that that they weren’t being mocked.

“We’ve been joked about for a long time and yet we all know the background and where the real name came from,” Trytten said.

The town is named after Jacob Armel Kiester, a late 19th century Faribault County judge and state senator.