美國：海洋城幽默廣告招攬遊客

A popular seaside resort in the northeastern US state of Maryland is urging tourists to book vacations now before the ocean disappears altogether.

Borrowing from the style of Orson Welles' 1938 radio announcement that Martians were landing on Earth, the ad features the mayor of Ocean City calling on vacationers to book "before our planet spirals to a vaporous death."

"Fellow citizens, this is Rick Meehan, mayor of Ocean City, Maryland, USA, Planet Earth," he says in the ad which appears on regional television and radio as well as on YouTube,.

"A recent study in the Royal Astronomical Society Journal predicts that our oceans will evaporate in one billion years," he says.

"This is not due to global warming but the natural effect of our Earth being dragged towards the sun, causing our beloved salt waters to just boil away.

"As such we are advising citizens to book their Ocean City getaway now, before the ocean evaporates. This may be the last chance you have to enjoy all that Ocean City, Maryland has to offer."

As the mayor ends his appeal, scenes of the beaches, fishing, tourist shops and children banging on crabs are flashed across the screen.

Donna Abbott, public relations director for the tourist spot, said the ad aims to be "humorous" and is a tongue-in-cheek appeal to urge Americans to take a vacation amid a slumping economy and spiking fuel costs.

"We understand the environment, but these days, in all the gloom and doom of the news, we want to have people take notice and realize that they need to have some fun," she said.

"We recognize these are challenging economic times with gas prices increasing and it was a reason to be very aggressive in our campaign this year to remind people they need to take a vacation."

Ocean City, renowned for its 10 mile long (16 kilometer) sandy beach, receives around eight million visitors per year.

位於美國東北部馬里蘭州的一個著名海濱度假地日前打出廣告，呼籲人們在海洋消失前趕快去那裏度假。

該廣告借用了奧森·威爾斯1938年在廣播中製造“火星人入侵地球”的風格，讓“海洋城”市長在其中號召度假者們“在地球極速蒸發消亡之前”儘快預定假期。

市長在廣告中說：“親愛的地球居民們，我是來自地球上的美國馬里蘭州海洋城的市長裏克·米安。”這段廣告已在當地電臺和電視臺播放，還出現在YouTube網站上。

他說：“《皇家天文協會期刊》上的一項最新研究預言，我們的海洋將會在十億年後消失。”

“但這並不是全球變暖導致的，而是太陽對地球的引力造成的，這種自然效應將把我們深愛的海水都蒸發幹。”

“所以我們建議大家在海洋未消失前儘快來海洋城度假。這可能是大家能在馬里蘭的海洋城享受的最後一次海濱度假的機會了。”

市長話一說完，屏幕上便閃現出海洋城的海灘、釣魚、遊客商店，以及孩子們捉螃蟹的畫面。

該度假區的公關經理唐娜·艾伯特說，這個廣告旨在以“幽默感”動人，同時也是在半開玩笑地鼓勵美國人在經濟衰退和油價上漲的重壓下出去度個假。

她說：“我們瞭解目前的境況，但這些日子以來，到處都是低沉沮喪的消息，所以我們想引起人們的注意，並想讓他們意識到需要出去找點樂子了。”

“我們認識到，油價上漲使我們目前正面臨着經濟困境，這也是我們今年在宣傳推廣中極力提醒人們出去度假的原因。”

“海洋城”以其綿延10英里（相當於16公里）的海灘而聞名，每年接待約800萬遊客。