Elvis was Hawai'i's greatest marketer

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Elvis Presley

"He's done more for Hawai'i than anyone else ... and he opened up the doors to Hawai'i with his 'Blue Hawai'i' film," said Tom Moffatt, veteran disc jockey and longtime friend of Presley.

"Elvis shared Hawai'i with the world, creating more publicity for us than HVB (Hawai'i Visitors Bureau, now the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau) has ever done, and it didn't cost us anything," Moffatt said.

By The Numbers

Here are Elvis' Hawai'i stats.

3 Number of films he made here: "Blue Hawai'i," 1961; "Girls! Girls! Girls!," 1962; "Paradise, Hawaiian Style," 1966.

5 Number of concerts he staged here: at Honolulu Stadium, 1957; at Bloch Arena, Pearl Harbor, in 1961; at Honolulu International Center Arena, 1972 (two performances); at HIC Arena, in an "Aloha From Hawai'i" satellite-live telecast, 1973.

1 billon Number of viewers who tuned in to the "Aloha" satellite event.

32,000 Amount paid by screaming throng of 15,000 at his stadium show.

75,000 Number of dollars the satellite show raised for the Kui Lee Cancer Fund.

1 Number of Kui Lee tunes he recorded: "I'll Remember You," 1973.

5 Number of Hawai'i-themed hits he recorded: "Blue Hawai'i," "Rock-a-Hula Baby" and "Ku'uipo," from "Blue Hawai'i"; "Drums of the Islands," from "Paradise, Hawaiian Style"; "I'll Remember You," from "Aloha From Hawai'i."