South Dakota’s new ad campaign: At least we’re not Mars
By Niraj Chokshi
“Why die on Mars, when you can live in South Dakota?”
That’s the question at the heart of a new ad campaign in which the state positions itself as a better alternative to a barren, lifeless rock.
The campaign — from the governor’s Office of Economic Development and first reported on by South Dakota’s Argus Leader, which ran a long story late last week about the tongue-in-cheek effort — is an attempt to shake the perception outsiders have of South Dakota as merely a tourist destination. What better way to disabuse the public of that view than contrasting the state with the hottest tourist destination around?