Love the Philippines, It’s More Fun in the Philippines: What we think of the new tourism slogan

IT hogged the headlines and television newscasts—and set social media on fire— this past week. With scores of netizens joining the fray, and Cebu City’s local executives rushing to the defense of the embattled DOT Secretary, a good friend/editor asked me if I could write about the raging issue for this column.

I had not intended to, but she sent me a link to the interview by Karen Davila with Joey Salceda on the program Headstart, and I later came across a number of columns, editorials, and Facebook posts about it. So here I am giving my two cents’ worth (together with those of a few colleagues) on the recently launched “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign, which has been deemed a “fiasco” and a failure.

We members of IPRA Philippines comprise several PR agency owners, with some working as either heads of Corporate Communications or government relations or hold key management positions in their companies. A couple are with government agencies, and one is with the academe.

When I asked if anyone wanted to comment about this hot new controversy, most of them begged off, wary of how doing so could compromise their current work with government agencies—and a few were unwilling to make it any worse for the parties involved. It was highly understandable; after all, we all work and move in the local advertising and communications circuit and it could have easily been one of us who was embroiled in the tricky situation.

But for purposes of discussion (and I want to make it clear that we do not intend to judge or choose sides or point fingers at anyone), I posed two questions to several people who have undertaken major campaigns like this: what they would do under the same circumstances and what advice would they give to the Client if they were asked for their opinion?

Let me start with my own humble point of view and some thoughts:

If a Slogan Works, Why Change It?

I H Ave always been an avid supporter of the last slogan “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” because it was, for me, the perfect description of everything that tourists company, has partnered with Havas Health & You Malaysia to launch an impactful e S G campaign called the #GiveBack Campaign. This campaign aims to r aise awareness about the proper disposal of asthma inhalers (including medicine blister packaging) and the significant environmental impact they can have.

M any Malaysians are unaware of the environmental consequences associated with used asthma i nhalers. Data reveals that a single and visitors can look forward to in the Philippines in terms of food, exotic destinations, events, the warmth and innate hospitality of our people.

Why, just watching the country’s political dramas morph into comic scenes affirms the fact that we are a fun-loving country! And as a people we love to laugh and make fun of ourselves, we show that we may use laughter to forget our troubles. Where else in the world would we find such creative memes and local witticisms as “Marites” and those endless dinosaur jokes about an aging ex-senator? We laugh to forget, which ultimately makes us more resilient in the midst of crises.

Aside from agreeing that “It’s more fun in the Philippines,” I also associate it with a very good friend, former Tourism Secretary Mon Jimenez, whom I and our entire industry still miss so much.

I was fortunate to have worked with Mon during our early years in advertising, during which time I noted his fine character and creativity, and his impeccable work ethic. Like others who knew him, I considered his stint as head of the Department of Tourism as a great personal service to the country. Mon had earlier earned his stripes and had no further need for recognition or accolade.

My personal stand on this controversy, therefore, is: why did we have to change a slogan that (still) works incredibly well, has remained relevant, and has brought in sizeable results in terms of tourism numbers.

Furthermore, the Department of Tourism could have channeled their efforts to working with industry stakeholders in upgrading our airports, ensuring the security of foreign and local travelers and their mode of transportation, or simply training hospitality trade frontliners to be more honest and more service-oriented?

Looking at how this new campaign panned out and how it was obviously mismanaged, my impression is based on what I saw and gathered from the news and other comments of lawmakers and some observers. I believe that there has to be joint accountability between client and agency.

With 40 years of working with various clients on various PR campaigns, I have found that whenever things go south, it is always convenient to put the blame on inhaler releases greenhouse gases equivalent to 10 kilograms of c arbon dioxide, which is typically invisible to the naked eye. However, if this amount of gas were p umped into standard-sized balloons, it would fill up 300 of them, d emonstrating the substantial impact of inhalers on our planet.

To address this issue, Havas Health & You Malaysia has devised a creative solution to make t he unseen visible—using balloons to showcase the harm of the agency, which is tasked to keep their clients clean and looking good. If this can happen in the private sector, it can certainly happen in the government sector where officials expect to be kept clean while the agency is held accountable for errors of judgment.

To be honest, the government officials involved in this “fiasco” should at least offer to resign after terminating the agency’s services.

I will leave my opinion at that and discuss how other colleagues view the issue:

A longtime PR practitioner who has always worked on the Client side gave two perspectives about this issue. She named two major points:

‘Client-Agency Protocols’

I T is good to understand the process and protocols in a clientagency relationship, especially how creative work is ideated, presented, revised, approved, and produced. Co-creation requires mutual trust and integrity. Approving creative work means one accepts accountability for one’s action and decision. This is how it should go: u sed inhalers on the environment.

Roles have to be clear—the client approves every step in the process and the agency produces based on the clients’ needs, standards and ethics.

The creative process goes through stages; each stage is presented to client for approval before it can proceed to the next.

It starts with ideation that produces an offline mood video or a creative study (a draft of sorts) with placeholder material that is presented to the client for approval/suggested revisions. From there, production of the final material ensues. The decision to shoot fresh materials or to use stock shots depends on the budget and which option client will approve.

L aunched in conjunction with World e n vironment Day this June, the new #Giveback campaign is part of GSK’s nationwide e n vironmental, Social, and Governance ( e S G) efforts to collect used, expired, or unwanted a sthma inhalers and medicine blister packaging for proper and safe disposal. #GiveBack bins are being placed at over 600 collection points in partner pharmacies,

As a Client, I have always scrutinized every detail and every frame (perhaps to the chagrin of the agency) but I always ask questions to ensure respect for intellectual property. Before giving final approval, I also make sure that those concerned have been heard, knowing fully that every single detail tells the right story of the institution I represent and impacts on the reputation and authenticity of the institution.

Expect ubiquitous fact checking and reactions from all audiences

We must accept and be ready for the reality that today, anyone can fact-check and comment on creative or “original” works, anywhere and anytime, given the vast reach of digital capabilities. It is therefore important for us to be very cautious in using materials that are not original.

From another colleague who prefers to remain anonymous:

“I A PPR e C IAT e the effort of the DOT in launching a new Philippine tourism campaign with a world-class advertising agency, but all the hard work fell apart when stock images were used that were not real places and events in the Philippines. What an irony!

It is not clear if the moodsetter Av P w as meant only for an internal presentation but the accountability rests on both the DOT and DDB. While the agency was axed, someone in DOT should also be made accountable for approving and presenting a material that has not been vetted properly. They should have learned their lesson from previous fiascos! When all is done, the ultimate losers are the Filipinos whose hard-earned taxes pay for the salaries of incompetent government officials whose standards of quality and excellence are very much wanting. That’s what we get when the hospitals, and clinics nationwide.

David Lin, Director of Communications, Government Affairs, & S trategic Customer Solutions at GSK, commented, “Now, more than ever, we must come together to protect the environment and make a difference. While ensuring that we provide medicines a nd inhalers for those who need them, it is equally crucial to do so in a sustainable manner to benefit the planet. We are confident that our ongoing efforts will resonate administration appoints not the brightest people in that industry but someone who is a payback for political favors.”

From an educator:

Rowena Capulong Reyes Ph.D, former dean, Institute of Arts and Sciences of Far Eastern University and Ex-Officio, Philippine Association of Communication Educators VP of Corporate Affairs, FEU

“The current issue of using non-original materials is clearly a bad example for future communication practitioners whether in PR or advertising. One of the first things we teach our students, and eventually require them to practice, is to use original footage in their production. If and when they use stock or borrowed footage, they need to get consent and permission from the owners, copyright, and other holders.”

As I was wrapping up this column, two headlines I saw were:

“DOT Keeping ‘Love’ Campaign Despite Mess” and “DOT Likely to keep ‘Love the Phl.” So what was all the hullabaloo for?

Like I said: “It’s more fun in the Philippines!” with our patients and help us make the positive difference we all want to see.”

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior communications professionals around the world. Joy Lumawig-Buensalido is the President and CEO of Buensalido PR and Communications. She was past Chairman of the IPRA Philippine chapter for two terms.

PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@ gmail.com.

Adding on he said, “The collaboration journey with Havas h as been pleasantly smooth and stimulating. I enjoyed the journey as the team at Havas is creative and proactive, making our collaboration a win-win formation. T hey are experienced in what they do best, coupled with added creative dust [that] makes the whole p artnership uniquely successful.”