DOT ends deal with ad firm over promo fiasco

by DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN, JULIE M. AURELIO AND MELVIN GASCON Inquirer.net

MANILA — Just two days after it announced that it was conducting an investigation, the Department of Tourism (DOT) abruptly ended its contract with DDB Group Philippines on Monday, July 3 after the advertising agency apologized for using stock footage of other countries in the video launching the country’s “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign. In a statement, the DOT pointed to DDB’s “abject failure” to comply with its obligations under the P49-million contract after the agency “admitted in no uncertain terms” that the materials used in the promotional video were not original.

The almost two-minute-long video featuring popular travel destinations in the country was shown at the June 27 launch of the newest tourism campaign that replaced the “It’s more fun in the Philippines” branding that had been in use since 2012.

But netizens pointed out that some clips were of tourist sites in other countries, including a fisherman in Thailand, an airport runway in Switzerland,