Keller: Unusual new ad doubles down on keeping crowds away from spring break in Miami
The opinions expressed below are Jon Keller's, not those of WBZ, CBS News or Paramount Global.
MIAMI - After several years of spring break violence and chaos, officials in Miami Beach have cracked down with curfews, fines and restrictions on access. Now they're releasing an unusual ad campaign to keep the rowdy crowds away as this year's spring break approaches.
Arrests and drug offenses down
Last year's changes seemed to work. Arrests for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness are down more than 80%. Drug offenses are down 21%.
Last year, the city ran a TV ad featuring local residents fed up with the mayhem spring break had become telling lawless outsiders they were "breaking up with them." This year, it's an even blunter warning - come here to get drunk and rowdy, and you're going to have a terrible time.
The new ad features a group of handsome twentysomethings affluent enough to afford a penthouse condo rental arriving ready to party. But next thing you know, their day on the beach is interrupted by Miami Beach police who make them empty out their beers and turn off their boom box - both violations of the new city rules. Or, as one of the kids puts it ruefully: "rule after rule after rule."
Stripped of the freedom to party the way they want when and where they want, the young people start to unravel; a montage features one of the women crying in front of multiple Miami Beach landmarks, perhaps still mourning her lost beer. "The real villain here is all of these rules," declares one of the group.
And by the end of the spot, there's consensus: this is the "worst spring break ever."
Similar crackdown on Cape Cod
It's an unusual approach for a place that depends on tourism, and there have been some complaints of lost business from local establishments, but local officials claim it's been well-received by most city residents and was a necessary antidote to the brand damage done by video of the recent violence.
You may recall a similar type of crackdown was imposed at Dennis beaches down the Cape last summer in response to complaints about large rowdy crowds and clashes with police. There were no arrests there over July 4 weekend, more evidence of what Miami Beach has learned - if you lay on the rules, you cut down on the fools.
