Maui Business Slogans Deemed 'Most Honest' by National Advertising Publication

A national advertising and marketing publication has named Maui businesses as having the "most honest slogans" among  thousands of businesses it examined across the nation.

Admonth, a monthly magazine that covers advertising agency-client relationships, marketing campaigns,  and regional advertising trends, included Maui in its "Outside the Box" edition set for release in June.

"We studied thousands of local businesses up and down the West Coast, into Alaska, and throughout the Pacific islands including Guam and Hawaii," said Maxwell Hoolaha, an executive editor with Admonth who speaks for small businesses and chambers of commerce in the Western United States. "What we found was, Maui's local businesses are the most honest in their slogans, and how they advertise. They make no bones about why you might want to do business with them."

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For instance, the publication noted signs outside of Kahale's in the Barmuda Triangle of Kihei, which calls itself "Maui's Local Dive Bar."

"We don't see an establishment call itself a 'dive bar' elsewhere in the United States," Hoolaha said. "At least in print or in marketing materials. It kind of has a negative connotation. But clearly, it works well for Kahale's."

All around the island, representatives for the publication found examples of businesses focusing marketing on their ability to show up to appointments, or basically just having a little fun with their business name and their spin on making it uniquely Hawaiian.

"It was quite refreshing, actually," Hoolaha said. "I mean, the Haole Penos food truck in Kihei uses the tagline, 'Da Mexi-Kine.' How cool is that?"