From “It’s More fun in the Philippines” to “Love the Philippines.” The government’s slogan promoting the country’s tourism industry changes every new administration. The rebranding simply depends on taste and style of the current leadership.
But the latest “Love the Philippines” slogan has received flak from netizens and legislators when it was discovered that the advertising firm Doyle, Dane and Bernbach Philippines (DDB) that was contracted by the Department of Tourism (DOT) to come up with campaign videos used non-original materials in its audio-visual presentation (AVP).
Rep. Joey Salceda was disappointed after watching the promotional video wherein Mayon Volcano was not even included. “No love for Albay, no love for Bicol. Thank you na lang. Albay tourism will thrive without you, LOVE ALBAY!” Salceda wrote, obviously upset. (Manila Bulletin)
ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro believes the “Love the Philippines” slogan was copied from the “Love Cyprus” slogan launched by the country’s Deputy Ministry of Tourism in 2021. “It is unacceptable for the Marcos government to resort to plagiarizing campaign slogans from other countries,” he said. (The Freeman)
To soften the criticism and impact against the department after non-original materials were shown, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco ordered the termination of the contract of DDB after the latter publicly apologized and admitted that non-original materials were used in the AVP.
According to the fact-checking platform of Agence France Presse, parts of the almost two-minute video for the “Love the Philippines” campaign prepared by DDB showed places in Brazil, Indonesia, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, and that these were grabbed from stock image and footage websites.
Because of this issue against the DOT, Cebu’s local officials signed a manifesto of support for Secretary Frasco.
Part of the manifesto states: “We, the Congressmen, City Mayors, Municipal Mayors, and Councilors under the banner of a united and indivisible One Cebu Island, declare our full and unwavering support to the Department of Tourism (DOT) led by our very own, a Cebuana, Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco.” They suspect sabotage against Secretary Frasco.
With due respect, the manifesto of support is unnecessary since the DOT and its officials, particularly the secretary, are faultless since the DDB already and publicly admitted its mistakes. The DDB deserves rebuke more than the termination of its contract with DOT.
I could only speculate that DDB must have run out of better ideas on how to best promote our tourism industry. They are simply lazy that they merely grabbed stock images of other countries instead of showing the beautiful and breathtaking places and scenery in our country like the Mayon Volcano.
The slogan “Love the Philippines” is, however, designed and aimed at inviting foreign tourists to visit and love our country and not meant for us, the locals or domestic tourists. So, how can we ask foreign tourists to love our country if we cannot show them that we love our country first and foremost? Look at our surroundings, trash is everywhere.
The rebranding of the tourism slogan brings me to the dream of Mayor Mike Rama of a Singapore-like Cebu City. While it is not essentially wrong to copy the best practices of developed countries like Singapore, it would have been better if the Cebu City Government came up with its own program like “love our city, keep it clean” since cleanliness is one of the biggest issues the city is currently facing instead of listening to the mayor’s rhetoric.