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Love the Philippines?
It’s been a while since I wrote a piece about my beloved country. Sometime after the 2022 Philippine election, I got tired of caring so much. I stopped intentionally watching the news. I seldomly expressed my opinion about politics. I felt that my energy was better spent on things I directly had control over.
Then the Love the Philippines AVP tourism campaign came out. Just like many Filipinos, I too was outraged and extremely disappointed with the video footage. And so I awoke from my political apathy.
The tourism video did not give justice to the country. Instead of being a showcase for the country’s best, it gave a glimpse into the country’s worst — corruption, deceit, and mediocrity. What could be more ironic than a “love the Philippines” video promotion using stock videos from different countries?
Aside from the deceitful sourcing of clips, the production also lacked heart. It was dull. Of course, a single video can only show so much. But with a total campaign budget of 49 million pesos, we expect more. It failed to highlight the lovable traits of the Filipinos or the lovely scenes of the Philippines. Great productions evoke emotions. They tell stories. Many content creators have shown that one minute is enough to do this. But the 1.45 minutes of the tourism AVP did neither. It was just a series of random drone shots and short clips.
Though the Department of Tourism terminated its contract with the advertising company involved with the video and claims that no payments from taxpayer’s money have been made yet, the DOT is still accountable. The video has been released. So it means it should have already been thoroughly checked by the department. It was only after the backlash they realized that they didn’t do their homework well.
If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
Before the release of the video, there was already an uproar when DOT changed the tourism tagline “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” to “Love the Philippines”. Some said it was bland. Others said it sounded demanding. Filipino journalist Howie Severino suggested a small but impactful change to the blunt campaign slogan.
He tweeted: How about a comma? Love, the Philippines. A simple comma would change the tone from a blunt command to a gentle…
