Cancels DDB contract for slogan video after fiasco

By Othel V. Campos, Maricel V. Cruz

and Macon Ramos-Araneta

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) is terminating its contract with the ad company DDB Philippines after a promotional video it circulated online was exposed to have stock footage of other countries.

Although DDB owned up to the error, the DOT decided to cancel the contract for its new slogan campaign as the fiasco embarrassed the department and compro- mised the sincerity of the campaign. International news services such as the BBC and CNN have carried stories about the tourism fiasco.

“The DOT is in solidarity with our fellow Filipinos in expressing our outrage and extreme disappointment at the use of non-original/stock footage purporting to be scenes from the Philippines in the audiovisual presentation

(AVP) prepared, produced, and published by DDB Philippines as a component of the launch of the enhanced tourism branding campaign for the country,” the DOT said in a statement. Under the terms governing the DOT’s tourism branding campaign contract with DDB Philippines, “material/s produced by the winning bidder should be original