DOT orders probe over alleged stock footage in ‘Love the Philippines’ campaign

The Department of Tourism (DOT) ordered an investigation on Saturday following allegations that the ”Love the Philippines” marketing campaign video geared toward attracting worldwide guests to the nation contained inventory footage.

Blogger Sass Sasot alleged in a Facebook put up that the tourism video used a number of inventory video clips from Storyblocks, a subscription-based inventory footage web site, that weren’t shot within the Philippines.

Sasot stated at the least 5 scenes have been shot in different nations: rice terraces (Bali, Indonesia); fisherman throwing a web (Thailand); a passenger airplane approaching the runway (Zurich, Switzerland); leaping dolphins (unspecified location however not within the Philippines); and an individual driving a car on sand dunes (Dubai, the United Arab Emirates).

”As one of many many different forthcoming elements of the launch of the improved tourism marketing campaign, the DOT’s contracted company, DDB Philippines, ready and revealed an audiovisual presentation [that] has just lately been the topic of scrutiny on the alleged use of non-original pictures in sure elements of the AVP,” the division stated in a press release.

”The DOT is presently conducting an exhaustive investigation to find out the veracity of, and to collect the complete college of info on, these allegations.”

Prior to the launch of the brand new tourism slogan on June 27, the DOT stated it had ”repeatedly sought affirmation from DDB on the originality and possession of all supplies contained within the AVPs and key visuals” introduced to the company.

”[O]n all these events, DDB repeatedly assured the DOT that the originality and possession of all supplies [were] so as,” the DOT stated. 

”While no public funds have been paid for the AVP in query as this specific element of the launch was launched on the account of DDB, the DOT holds the accountability of selling the nation to the very best normal,” it stated. 

”Therefore, it won’t hesitate to actual accountability and take the mandatory motion to guard the pursuits of the nation even because it continues to exhaust all efforts to develop and promote the Philippine tourism business.” —VBL, GMA Integrated News