“Love the Philippines”
PR flop in the Philippines: island state courts tourists – with pictures of other countries
The Philippines attract, among other things, with dream beaches and crystal clear water.
© Mlenny / Getty Images
That went wrong: The Philippines wanted to advertise their country with a paradisiacal advertising clip. However, the clip was more likely to cause laughter – because it does not only show the Philippines.
The approximately one and a half minute long video, which was published last week, had the slogan “Love the Philippines”. At first there was great joy about the successful advertising film, but then Internet users pointed out that some of the material used did not show the Philippines at all. The clip is no longer used by the ministry.
PR firm responsible for omissions
Archival footage in the clip includes rice terraces in Indonesia, a silhouette of a fisherman in Thailand, an airport runway in Switzerland and sand dunes in the United Arab Emirates. The company “blatantly failed to meet the obligations under the contract,” the ministry wrote. However, the PR company apologized and openly admitted to having installed foreign material.
“The use of foreign footage in an advertising campaign for the Philippines is highly inappropriate and contrary to the goals of the ministry,” the agency said.
The Philippines consists of around 7600 islands. The Southeast Asian country is known for its dream beaches. Inland, national parks, jungles, waterfalls and mountain landscapes lure visitors.