The Philippines’ Department of Tourism (DOT) launched a promotional video reportedly funded by a whopping $900,000 of government money. It was launched on June 27 under the “Love the Philippines” campaign, and caused a bunch of netizens to troll them, big time Why, you may wonder? Because some of the shots didn’t show scenes from the Philippines at all!
What’s in the “Philippines” video?
People targeted the DOT only a few days following the ad’s release, pointing out the errors in the scenic footage. Sure, some scenes were shot in the country the video was trying to promote. But those charming rice terraces from the video are actually in Indonesia. And those sweeping dunes? Nope, not the Philippines: you’ll have to travel to the United Arab Emirates to see them. Some comments point out that the airplane scene is from Switzerland and that the fisherman scene was shot in Thailand. Yikes.
Not surprisingly, the group behind the controversial video, DDB Group Philippines, faced a wave of criticism after DOT released the video. According to Creative Bloq, The Philippine Department of Tourism quickly removed the video from its social media accounts and canceled its contract with DDB. But, of course, people have reuploaded the video and kept trolling.
People’s reactions
As I mentioned, people responded to the campaign when they noticed it was dishonest. I think that they’re mocking the video for a reason, but I like that most of the comments are really funny. “Love Indonesia’ rice terraces. Love Thailand’s fisherman. Love Switzerland’s airport runway. Love United Arab Emirates’ desert,” one comment reads. “Big thanks to [the] Philippines for promoting Indonesia Tourism for free. cheers,” reads another. ” Come to the Philippines and see the world!” is one of my favorites. It could actually work better as the official slogan with a video like this.
DDB Group’s response
To quell the uproar, DDB apologized and offered some explanations. They claim that they made the clip as “a mood video to excite internal stakeholders about the campaign.” They also admitted their oversight in using foreign stock footage. ” While the use of stock footage in mood videos is standard practice in the industry, the use of foreign stock footage was an unfortunate oversight on our agency’s part,” they wrote. “Proper screening and approval processes should have been strictly followed.”
Furthermore, DDB claims no public funds went into making the audio-visual presentation. The company alleges that it shouldered the cost and that this was just “a DDB initiative to help pitch the slogan.”
Despite their attempts at clarification, it’s clear the mishap has left the “Love the Philippines” campaign in an uncomfortable spotlight. As they struggle to regain trust, DDB and DOT need to go back to the drawing board. This time, hopefully, with authentic Philippine vistas!
[via PetaPixel]
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