Lance Dutson has been going through some stuff regarding the Maine Office of Tourism’s advertising practices on Google. His findings (and the aftermath) are getting pretty heated, but he brought up what I believe to be a very valid point on his blog tonight. He focuses on a MOT campaign that, put simply, tries to convince visitors that tried and true Maine tourism attractions such as lighthouses and moose really aren’t worth the trip.
I’d like to make it clear that I’m not some in-state advertising agency… (that would make sense, of course, that the state promotes the creative economy of Maine by hiring an in-state… what? they’re from New York City? oh.) ok, some out-of-state advertising agency, but I’ve whipped up a couple of examples of how this same campaign could be used for, say, Disneyworld and Fenway Park.
I should change my profession.
UPDATE: Looks like the post was removed. Luckily, Google’s got a cache thing goin’ on.