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TOURISM MARKETING
National tourism campaign used visuals taken in other countries
By our News Team | 2023
DDB agency in Philippines issues an apology after video to promote local tourism found to have used footage from four other nations.
The Philippines office of ad agency DDB Worldwide was forced to issue an apology yesterday (Sunday) after it was found that footage it included in a video promoting tourism to the Southeast Asian nation actually contained visuals from other countries.
A report by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency found that the video, compiled by DDB Philippines, contained stock footage shot in Indonesia, Brazil, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
Photo credit: Philippines Department of Tourism
A local blogger, Sass Rogando Sasot, originally queried some of the material in a social media post, and AFP then fact-checked the visuals.
A report published on Sunday in The Philippine Star newspaper said DDB Philippines acknowledged the use of foreign stock footage was “an unfortunate oversight” on its part.
Use of foreign stock footage ‘highly inappropriate’
“Proper screening and approval processes should have been strictly followed. The use of foreign stock footage in a campaign promoting the Philippines is highly inappropriate, and contradictory to the Department of Tourism’s objectives,” the agency said.
It added: “It is important to note that the [audio-video presentation] was produced by DDB Philippines at its own expense, and no public funds were released, or would be released, to fund the video.”
The new campaign, entitled ‘Love the Philippines’ was only released on 27 June and has now been suspended so that new material can be prepared.
AFP and The Philippine Star reported that a statement released over the weekend by the country’s Department of Tourism said it had “repeatedly sought confirmation from DDB on the originality and ownership of all materials contained in the AVPs (audio-visual presentations) and key visuals presented to the department”.
“In all these occasions, DDB repeatedly assured the DOT that the originality and ownership of all materials are in order,” the ministry said.
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