“Eenie, Meenie, Miney, MO! This Is Where You Ought to Go!”
As I flew back from vacation, I stumbled upon a full-page advertisement for Missouri in my in-flight magazine. Although I regularly see other states featured in articles in in-flight magazines (I discussed one about Utah recently), I haven’t seen any other states take out this kind of ad.
I don’t know whether this particular ad was bought with taxpayer money, but I do know that the state government uses taxpayer money to advertise. According to our “Show-Me: The Spending” web tool, state government agencies in Missouri have spent $223,362,918 on advertising services since 2000 (in terms of constant 2009 dollars).
Are there no better uses for taxpayer monies than paid advertising? Does seeing a full-page ad in an in-flight magazine cause any travelers to relocate their business to Missouri? Is this a successful economic development strategy?
