Arigato for smoking

Adfreak is reporting today that Hawaii's been running a very strange, pro-smoking campaign in Japan. Apparently, the U.S. state has created ads to reassure Japanese tourists that while Hawaii has adopted no-smoking laws, they aren't as strict as people would have you believe. But why spread the mixed message? Well, for more Yen, of course. Somehow, rumors had circulated in Japan that Hawaii had banned smoking entirely, and it started seriously affecting the state's tourism. The campaign, called "Smoking with Aloha," is targeted at Japanese publications to let tourists know that both they, and their cancer sticks, are welcome. Of course, as Adfreak points out, "the most ironic part of it all is that "˜aloha' literally means "˜breath of life.'" Story via the always amusing Adfreak.