Meek Wants Another $75 Million from BP

While BP has promised to spend $25 million in ads to lure tourists perhaps put off by the oil spill back to Florida, Congressman Kendrick Meek, the frontrunner for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, said it was not enough and sent a letter to BP CEO Tony Hayworth asking for another $75 million in ads.

While I applaud your company's promise to make $25 million available to promote Florida tourism, it simply is not enough, wrote Meek. I am writing to request that you pledge an additional $75 million - the amount of money required by conservative estimates to run an adequate domestic and international marketing campaign. This type of ad campaign will cost at least $8 million a week.

In the wake of the oil spill, we need to double-down on these efforts in order to bring tourists back to our beaches, added Meek.