On Sunday, August 18, viewers of cable’s most acclaimed drama, “Breaking Bad,” witnessed a typically riveting scene in which the show's meth-dealing protagonist and his lawyer each used the phrase “trip to Belize” as a synonym for murder.

Social media predictably exploded, and the Belize Tourism Board had a decision to make: It could stay quiet, and try to wait out its new place in pop culture, or it could attempt to join –and change—the conversation.

Belize, which historically struggles for awareness amid the competitive Caribbean tourism market, embraced the opportunity to elevate its profile in a way that could show off the country’s laid-back personality.

It immediately began playfully tweeting about the moment at cast members, and when the initial reaction to those exchanges was positive, it upped the ante by inviting eight members of the cast and show runner Vince Gilligan on an ACTUAL all-expenses-paid trip to Belize via an exclusive in the New York Times.

The invitation went viral, and as other outlets picked up the story, the glut of coverage succeeded in shifting the conversation not just about the episode, but about Belize in general.

Media impressions approached 350 million, and that exposure changed perceptions. According to Crimson Hexagon data, online sentiment regarding Belize was equally split between positive and negative mentions prior to the episode; in the week that followed, it ran 8:1 in favor of positive mentions, with a share of voice that eclipsed Mexico, Costa Rica and The Bahamas.

Following a series of calls in the immediate aftermath of the episode, the Belize Tourism Board sprung into action the following morning with a series of tweets at cast members that drew hundreds of almost entirely positive replies.

Following that trial balloon, we reached out to a reporter at the New York Times with an offer of an exclusive story about Belize’s offer of an all-expenses-paid trip for Breaking Bad’s entire cast and crew.

The Times story hit on August 22, and the image of the invitation included quickly caught fire online, getting picked up by outlets such as Huffington Post, Slate, Advertising Age, Business Insider, Vanity Fair and dozens of others. Virtually every story noted Belize’s ability to take a joke, and much of the online conversation empowered Belize’s fans to opine on how lucky the cast and crew were.

The program achieved significant reach, and it used that reach to change perceptions. There were 90 stories and 3,508 social-media posts citing Belize's response.

Total media impressions approached 350 million, and online sentiment regarding Belize went from 1:1 positive/negative mentions during the week before the episode to as high as 8:1 positive during the week following.

Belize typically trails its competitive set (Mexico, Costa Rica and The Bahamas) in share of voice, but it eclipsed all three for significant stretches of the week during the campaign.

It also saw a surge a 113% surge in visits to TravelBelize.com, a sign that the attention was prompting would-be tourists to consider Belize as a destination.

Somehow, Belize emerged from being compared to murder on a revered and widely watched cable show as a more attractive tourist destination than it was before.