Ad agency sorry for use of stock footage from abroad in tourism launch video
MANILA, Philippines — The advertising agency behind the “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign video apologized for the use of stock footage of locations outside the country, calling it “highly inappropriate.”
DDB Philippines said in a statement Sunday that while the use of non-original clips in mood videos is a standard practice in the industry, the use of foreign stock footage was “an unfortunate oversight” on its part.
“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,” it said.
In a statement late Saturday, the DOT said that DDB had repeatedly assured the department that the originality and ownership of all materials were in order.
The controversial promotional video has already been taken down. Succeeding ad materials have yet to be produced for the campaign.
“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 ad agency added.
DDB Philippines called this an “isolated incident” and vowed full cooperation with the DOT’s investigation.
The new tourism campaign—which replaced “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”—has been drawing flak on social media since it was launched on June 27.
Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco earlier told CNN Philippines that the “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign was worth P49 million.
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