http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Tucker/Morning%20Edition%2005-15-2012.mp3
Not long ago, the state invested only $1 to promote tourism in the state. Yesterday Governor Dannell Malloy announced a new two-year $27 million tourism campaign and a new slogan "Connecticut. Still Revolutionary."
"The primary message is that we're a day trip away," said Gov. Malloy on WNPR's Morning Edition. "We have all of the history, all of the beauty, all of the greatness that can be visited at a much further distance but because we're so close you can do it much more inexpensively and you should be spending your dollars here."
It might be a long day trip for some who see this ad campaign. Malloy said the campaign will primarily reach people from Philadelphia through all of New England.
Reaction to the new slogan has been mixed. Malloy said the word "revolutionary" means a lot more than just the Revolutionary War. He pointed to Harriet Beecher Stowe, Colt Firearms and Eli Whitney as being revolutionary in their respective fields.
Malloy also responded to criticism that the advertising firms were based out of New York. "Four companies worked on it - two of them are Connecticut companies," said Malloy. "The vast majority of the expenditures will have taken place in Connecticut."
However the lead agency behind the slogan and the television ad, Chowder Inc. is based out of New York.