Spring break is around the corner, but partygoers headed for Miami Beach won't find much of a party, at least not according to the city's newest PSA, per Axios. The 90-second ad is shot like a commercial for a reality-TV series, showing a group of beautiful college-age youth getting excited for their trip to the sunny South Florida hot spot. The reality of their vacation doesn't turn out to be quite the tropical paradise they'd hoped for, however, as they're immediately busted by police on the beach for public drinking and having speakers in the sand to listen to music.
"Rule after rule after rule," one of the frustrated young characters gripes as she scrolls through her phone, ostensibly reading up on all of those rules. The trip ends up disintegrating into cabin fever and fighting among the group members as they try to deal with the city's "annoying" parking rules, curfews, security checkpoints, and DUI enforcements (a dedicated website explains more of the real-life restrictions). "Worst spring break ever," the disappointed tourists lament.
This year's crackdown begins Feb. 27 and runs through the end of March, and officials hope the public service announcement will discourage too many party animals from descending upon the city island. The Miami Herald reports that Miami Beach—the site of deadly spring-break shootings in 2023—forked over $425,000 to the VML ad agency to produce the spot; it paid $250,000 for last year's ad, which carried a similar message designed to keep hard partiers away.
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Not everyone is excited about a quieter Miami Beach, especially business owners in the area who count on the extra tourist money during the spring break period, per the New York Times. Other locals, however, seem relieved that the city is asserting itself in the face of potentially rowdy revelers. "As someone who lived in South Beach for fifteen years, I LOVE THIS. Go home!" one ex-resident posted online. (More Miami Beach stories.)
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