Last place you’ll ever visit? Tennessee’s vaccine policy becomes late-night TV fodder

Late-night TV comedian Stephen Colbert is taking aim at Tennessee’s decision to fire its vaccine chief and stop marketing any immunizations to children.

“Tennessee, the Volunteer State, has one of the worst vaccination rates in the country,” Colbert said in his monologue Wednesday. “And they aim to keep it that way.”

Colbert suggested the state is proud of it’s anti-vax ways, and his program created a new tourism ad to suit:

“Discover Tennessee: Scenic lakes, beautiful state parks, and soon: polio!” the ad’s narrators says. “There are just so many things to do — and catch — in Tennessee.”

The parody ends with a new tourism slogan for the state: “Tennessee: The last place you’ll ever visit.”

As tourism officials like to say, you can’t buy this kind of publicity.