Chamber planning ad campaign urging Memorial Day weekend visitors to obey laws

A campaign sending a strong message to potential Memorial Day weekend visitors to obey local laws will kick off in early 2015 and cost six-figures, part of an effort aiming to regain control of the holiday weekend after it turned deadly this year.

This campaign doesn’t have the usual roll-out-the-red-carpet message of typical tourism ads aiming to lure potential visitors to a destination and could cause some pushback.

The message will be “we welcome anyone and everyone who desires to visit our local community and obey our laws, but if you don’t intend to follow our laws, we prefer you stay home or go elsewhere,” said Brad Dean, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, which is putting the campaign together.