CRYSTAL clear water. Pristine pink beaches. Tropical sunrises and sunsets.

Not the things people usually associate with Detroit, but then again, as the saying goes, there's a first time for everything.

This week, Detroit becomes the scene of paradise ? well, kind of ? as Southfield-based ad firm GlobalHue films two commercials for the Bermuda Department of Tourism.

The firm, chosen last month to handle the department's advertising, could have filmed in any city, but said the decision to shoot the TV spots in Detroit was a no-brainer given the recent international exposure it's gotten from Super Bowl XL at Ford Field.

"We have great facilities, resources and people why not give Detroit a chance to shine?" said Kevin Stone, GlobalHue's associate creative director. "Everything just came together: opportunity, location, talent and timing."

The ads, which are part of the "Bermuda. Feel The Love" campaign, will begin airing locally in New York, Atlanta, Boston and Philadelphia in April and on national cable stations such as the Food Network in May.

In addition to being filmed in Detroit, the ads will feature about 26 local actors, most of whom don't have speaking roles.

GlobalHue said actors had already been chosen.

David Green, a West Bloomfield actor who has appeared in local and national ads for companies such as Toyota, will be in one of the Bermuda spots. "I've done a lot of commercials in Detroit, but it was kind of surprising they decided to do an ad here for something like Bermuda," he said.

In one ad, Green plays a man eavesdropping on a woman telling her friend about her escapades in Bermuda while they wait in line at a coffee shop, which is the Cadillac Cafi in the Detroit Opera House. Just when the woman is about to reveal the juiciest part, sounds from an espresso machine drown her out.

In the other spot ? being filmed at a Detroit-area art gallery that the company asked not to be named ? another pair of women have a risqu? conversation about one's Bermuda trip, only to have the gallery audience's applause for an artist's masterpiece disrupt the best part of her tale.

Other parts of the ads were filmed in Bermuda.

"GlobalHue demonstrated keen insights into reaching travellers across the country who value fun, relaxation and elegance," said Ewart Brown, Bermuda's Minister of Tourism and Transport.