Niche marketing can be a tough nut to crack. How do you forge a connection with one very particular slice of the population, yet avoid alienating the rest? What happens when you push some of your product’s lesser-known, less popular virtues--especially when they seem at odds with its better-known qualities?

Such is the dilemma of South Carolina, whose Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department (SCPRT) recently participated in an Out Now ad campaign focusing on purportedly “gay” destinations, including Las Vegas, Boston, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. The campaign featured ads with the tagline “South Carolina is so gay” posted in London tube stations--and has pulled the SCPRT into an international imbroglio.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member RoBoNC.

After news of the campaign reached the rest of the state, Senator David Thomas condemned it, saying "South Carolinians will be irate when they learn their hard earned tax dollars are being spent to advertise our state as 'so gay.’” The SCPRT employee who approved the ad resigned, and Senator Thomas is calling for an audit of their advertising budget. The department is also refusing to pay the $5,000 fee they had initially agreed to for their participation in the campaign.

This isn’t the first time a gay-targeted marketing campaign has caused an uproar. Walt Disney World® fans have been divided over the park’s famed Gay Pride Day and pro-gay policies for years. And the opposite holds true for Coors, a target of boycotts by the gay community since the 1970s for its support of anti-gay policies--despite its recent spate of ads in gay publications.

According to Out Now CEO Ian Johnson, the SCPRT actually “chased [Out Now] to be included in the campaign late on.” And understandably so: The gay dollar is a powerful presence in the tourism industry, accounting for approximately 10% of U.S. leisure traveler spending in 2006. Gay men and lesbians also tend to travel more, stay longer, and spend more while they’re there.

Plus, despite its location in the Southern “Bible Belt,” South Carolina is arguably a great place for gay tourism. John Tanzella, executive director of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association, affirms that "there are things for gay people to do there. It's a beautiful state and that appeals to everybody." Places like Charleston and Myrtle Beach also have thriving gay communities.

Nonetheless, the state doesn’t view itself as a “gay” destination (let alone, achem, a “so gay” one). What do you think--is it fair to represent a destination as “gay” if its gay-friendliness is perhaps questionable? What would you think as a gay or lesbian tourist, or, conversely, as a (gay or straight) South Carolina resident? Majority rule, or minority rights?