We are all for an oil company's money being spent on marketing, but wouldn't this $25 million  be better spent ensuring that Florida's beaches remain clean?

Full story here

TALLAHASSEE — British Petroleum agreed Monday to give Florida another $25 million to pay for an advertising campaign promising that the state’s beaches remain open and fishing is going strong — even as the company struggles to stanch a massive oil spill off Louisiana’s Gulf coast.

Glenn Hastings, executive director of the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council, said Monday that the money would be used by the Gulf Coast counties from Pensacola to Sarasota to change tourist perceptions that the beaches are soiled.

The campaign’s also designed to prevent the loss of business on Memorial Day, traditional opening of the beach season, he said.

“Visit Florida and the governor’s office want to get the word out that the beaches are still clean,” Hastings said Monday.

The cash comes on top of $25 million BP has already pledged to help offset the state’s costs in preparing coastal regions for a possible landfall of the oil, which continues to mass roughly 350 miles from St. Petersburg.