South Dakota Offers Alternative to Dying on Mars

South Dakota officials, in an attempt to attract new residents to the Mt. Rushmore state, are asking a new and provocative question: "Why die on Mars, when you can live in South Dakota?"

That's the slogan they've attached to a new workforce development campaign, as teased in a YouTube video, set to begin next month. "We think Mars has what South Dakota wants," Pat Costello, commissioner of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, said. "Thousands of people lining up to live there."

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Compared to Mars, the video boasts, South Dakota is "progressive, productive and abundant in oxygen."

The 30-second video also references the people who've volunteered to make the one-way trip to colonize the planet Mars.

"Our goal is to build brand awareness of South Dakota not just as home to Mt. Rushmore," Costello added, "but as home to thriving industries, job growth opportunities, recreational opportunities and more."