The Department of Tourism's new slogan "Love the Philippines" launched just this June 27 is facing yet another issue: the alleged use of stock videos from Thailand and other nations, prompting the agency behind the ad to take it down and to apologize for what happened.
DDB Philippines, which bagged the P49 million contract to produce the controversial ad, said the audiovisual presentation (AVP) was a "mood video" supposedly to "excite internal stakeholders" about the new campaign. It's an isolate incident and the AVP has been taken down, it said in a statement released by the department on Sunday, July 2.
The DOT said Saturday, July 1 that it was probing the accusations, and that it “will not hesitate to exact accountability and take the necessary action to protect the interest of the country.”
The accusation of using stock videos in 'Love the Philippines' tourism ad
Based on posts circulating online, the AVP allegedly showed a farmer in Thailand, apparently obtained from stock footage website Storyblocks. Other shots supposedly included places in Indonesia and Dubai.
The video was created by its contracted agency, DDB Philippines, which assured DOT the origiality and ownership of all materials, it said in a statement on Saturday.
The DOT also assured that while "no public funds have been paid for the AVP in question, as this particular component of the launch was released on the account of DDB," the agency "holds the responsibility of promoting the country to the highest standard."
Also read: The Philippines' Latest Ad "We Give the World Our Best" Gets Mixed Reactions
An apology from the agency behind the tourism ad
DDB Philippines "profusely apologizes" to Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco, the deparment, and the Filipino people for the "apparent use of non-original/stock footage" in its AVP, which was shown during its launch last Tuesday, which also happened to be the 50th anniversary celebration of DOT where President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. was in attendance.
The video was supposed to be a "mood video" for internal stakeholders produced by the agency "at its own expense," it said.
"No public funds were released, or would be released, to fund the video. This was a DDB initiative to help pitch the slogan," it said, adding that it was an isolated incident and that the video in question has been taken down.
It said that the succeeding ad materials for the new tourism campaign have yet to be produced.
The use of stock footage for the mood video, while standard practice in the industry, was an "oversight" and using foreign stock videos were "highly inappropriate" to do so.
"We are fully cooperating with, and assure our full compliance towards the Department of Tourism's investigation of this mater."
This report originally appeared on Spot.ph and was written by Thea Alberto-Masakayan and Pia Regalado.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
