South Dakota’s ‘Mars’ Marketing Campaign Drawing Job-Seekers

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A workforce development campaign in South Dakota that sells the state as being better than the planet Mars is generating traffic to the state's workforce website.

The focus is a video about Mars. The final graphic reads: "South Dakota. Plenty of jobs. Plenty of air." Officials say it's a light-hearted approach to getting young people interested in moving to South Dakota, using the trending topic of colonizing Mars.

It's been lampooned by late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon. But the Argus Leader reports that since May 1, the state's workforce website has been visited more than 15,000 times.

Many visitors are from North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois. Governor's Office of Economic Development Marketing Director Mary Lehecka Nelson says officials are pleased with the results.

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