The tiny South Pacific Island of Nauru, known for its spectacular beaches and obese residents (see photo above), unveiled a slick new marketing campaign designed to boost tourism yesterday. The new motto, "Feel Thin in Nauru," refers to the fact that 94.5 percent of the country's citizens are overweight.

"A lot of people say Americans are fat," said Hoku Detemano, Nauru's 5-foot-3, 368-pound Minister of Tourism. "But they've never been here before."

Detemano said that the campaign was primarily targeted towards Americans, 74.1 percent of whom are overweight.

"We think they'll feel really good about themselves here," he said, noting that Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back" is still charting in Nauru. "We have hotels that are offering special gastric bypass weekends and our national airline offers an all-you-can eat deal on ribs, and an in-flight magazine called 'Gigantic Asses.'"

Detemano also noted that hungry travelers shouldn't be concerned about food shortages on the remote island.

"We actually don't eat that much," he said. "We all just have really slow metabolisms."

[Photo of Nauru resident via Willy Cypress on Flickr.]

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