"The takeaway was sometimes it really doesn't matter what the budget is."

Madison Avenue loves the "manaphin."

The manaphin is the mythical half-manatee, half-dolphin creature that Pinellas tourism officials created last year as an April Fool's Day prank that brought worldwide media attention to the county's beaches.

That campaign received one of the hospitality industry's highest marketing awards Monday night in New York City.

Read more at the Tampa Bay Times.