"I'm as stubborn as an Uptown oak tree," an unidentified African-American man says. "I ain't going nowhere."

The man is never named and his specific whereabouts are never identified, but his message is unmistakably being delivered on behalf of New Orleans. Oak Trees is one of four viral videos (the others are Coming Home; A New Frontier; and There's Something Here) that make up the "Don't Count Out New Orleans" campaign.

The series of vignettes was produced by the N.B.A.'s Hornets, in conjunction with Publicis, as a way to rally national support for the people who are committed to rebuilding and revitalizing the Crescent City.

The spots feature a number of locals detailing what makes the Big Easy so unique, such as Galatoire's, Preservation Hall, streetcars, and the wrought-iron balconies of the French Quarter. And it's all scored to the melancholic Dixieland music of a jazz funeral, and underscored by Hurricane Katrina.

Conspicuously absent from the shorts, however, is any mention of basketball.

"Our goal wasn't to be rah-rah or to sell tickets," says Matt Biggers, the Hornets vice president for marketing. "We felt a duty to use the exposure of the N.B.A. to show the spirit of the people here."