THE new country brand recently rolled out by Malacañang was described as “vague” in terms of messaging, which a lawmaker hoped would not be used to promote the Philippines as a tourism destination.
In a statement sent to the BusinessMirror, Senator Nancy Binay said in a mix of English and Filipino: “We appreciate the initiative and the effort to give the Philippines the needed boost in the global market. But there seems to be a disconnect in the messaging. Is the ad intended to encourage tourists to visit the country? Is it aimed to encourage more foreign investments? Or, is it meant for hospitals abroad to hire our nurses? It’s really so vague.”
The country brand, was sighted on a wrap-around ad on a London bus recently, with a photo of Filipina-British nurse May Parsons holding up a syringe. It carried the text: “The nurse who gave the world’s first COVID 19 vaccine. A Filipina. WE GIVE THE WORLD OUR BEST. THE PHILIPPINES.” Parsons, herself, tweeted a photo of the bus ad on Monday. The ad was developed by advertising agency DDB Group Philippines for the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications (OPACC) headed by filmmaker Paul Soriano. (See, “From ‘fun’ to ‘the best’: PHL bares new country brand,” in the BusinessMirror, May 9, 2023.)
‘Commodifying our people’
The lawmaker added, “Nakaka-bother lang when you see the ad; it seems that we are offering the world our nurses—which is a bit off, because we are already losing our health workers here. We don’t want to commodify our people, and we don’t want to be tagged as a labor-exporting country. And for whom was that ad in London—DOT (Department of Tourism), BOI (Board of Investments), or DMW (Department of Migrant Workers)?”
Binay, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Tourism observed: “At first glance, what’s the connection between the nurse, the syringe and vaccine in the promotion of our tour destinations? We have yet to see other renders and permutations of their ‘Best’ ads. But sad to say—from a tourism perspective—the ‘Best’ messaging isn’t appropriate to what we want to achieve in Philippine tourism. My question is, will that be adopted also by the DOT as a tourism slogan? I’m still hopeful that DOT would consider deferring its re-branding plans. Instead, let’s continue the ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’ campaign, and come up with fresh permutations of ‘Fun’ in the Philippines.”
Wrong example of ‘our best’
For her part, Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) president Benedicta Du-Baladad said the group continues to call for “structural reform. As it is now, the branding is ‘fragmented under a ‘bits and pieces’ framework. We want a unified, holistic, sustained country branding.” The business group recently submitted a position paper to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. urging the establishment of a council to help develop a “comprehensive branding strategy” to encourage investments, promote tourism, and build a positive image for the Philippines abroad. (See, “MAP pushes creation of national branding council for PHL,” in the BusinessMirror, May 4, 2023.)
A leader in the tourism sector meanwhile privately shared, “I can live with GIVING THE WORLD OUR BEST but, in my opinion, they used a wrong example. It’s not as if our nurse invented the Covid vaccine or had something to do with the research appended to it. Nautusan lang siya, THE BEST na kaagad?”
He added, “Why didn’t they cite those outstanding Filipinos who are now the most in-demand digital animators of those blockbuster animated movies, or the Filipino who invented that complex camera now used in space photography, or the Filipino who discovered the many previously unknown features of the Marianas deep, or those little boys from La Salle who recently won the gold in an international competition with their replica of a sustainable amusement park made of Lego, etc. All these exhibit excellent skills of the Filipino, good examples of OUR BEST. Don’t get me wrong. I value, respect and honor the nursing profession because my younger sister is a nurse, and is now a nursing director abroad.
Meanwhile, DOT officials continued to refrain from commenting on the country brand campaign. Apart from confirming that it developed the brand, Soriano’s office also did not reply to questions on the brand’s development, the budget allocation, and if the initiative went through a public bidding. As of press time, DDB failed to revert with their responses on the creative process behind the country brand.
Image credits: File photo/Senate PRIB