The connection between New Mexico and outer space goes back to the famed UFO landing in Roswell in 1947. So when the state’s tourism department decided to launch an ad campaign based on the state’s former lure to alien visitors, it should have been a grand success. And it probably would have been, except that the walking talking aliens in the print and TV ads resemble the ferocious drooling monster from the Aliens movies rather than cute and cuddly E.T.
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New Mexico’s tourism industry has been vocal about its opposition to the $2.9 million campaign saying that it projects a negative view of the state, and particularly wealthy baby boomers who are the new target for the tourism sector. And they do have a valid point. Even if you decided to check out Roswell and see what all the fuss was about, you’d probably expect a warmer welcome if the models in the ads didn’t look like they were going to slurp your brains out through a straw.
California based M&C Saatchi, the brains behind the campaign, say the target audience is a younger, hipper crowd who have money to burn and would never have otherwise considered New Mexico a holiday destination. They also claim developing a creative and effective spot for New Mexico is a challenge given the low ad budget here compared to neighboring tourism rivals Arizona and Colorado.