Global Courant
MANILA — Philippine tourism officials were redfaced after the makers of a video promoting the archipelago nation as a vacation destination said on Sunday they had used stock shots from other countries.
Advertising agency DDB Philippines apologized for the “deeply inappropriate” images, including rice terraces in Indonesia and sand dunes in Brazil.
The agency was behind the video for the government’s “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign, which launched on June 27.
The tourism ministry announced late on Saturday that it was investigating allegations that DDB’s video contained “non-original shots”. The video was later removed from the Facebook page.
Popular Filipino blogger Sass Rogando Sasot had posted on Facebook that several images in the campaign video came from other countries.
Analysis by AFP’s Fact Check team confirmed that the video showed places in Brazil, Indonesia, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
DDB apologized on Sunday for using “foreign stock footage,” describing it as an “unfortunate mistake on our part of the agency.”
“Proper screening and approval processes should have been strictly followed,” DDB said in a statement.
“Using foreign stock images in a campaign promoting the Philippines is highly inappropriate and contrary to the objectives of the DOT (Department of Tourism).”
The video was produced at his own expense, DDB said.
