The government said Wednesday it had pulled a tourism promotion campaign off the Internet after just one day, after critics panned the rebrand and warned that unwary surfers could easily end up at a porn site instead.
"Bland," "Lacks punch," "Sounds dishonest" were among posts made on popular networking sites about the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" (Philippines What a Beauty) website launched by the tourism department to much fanfare late Monday.
Critics also panned the decision to use the local spelling of the country's name, warning that a similar site, beautifulfilipinas.com, was pornographic.
Ministry spokeswoman Evelyn Macayayong said the government acknowledged the criticisms and pulled down the website on Tuesday for revisions.
"The write-ups were not thoroughly edited. There were errors, and there are even allegations of plagiarism, that we copied from other websites," Macayayong told AFP.
The aborted tourism campaign was top-billed by a candy-colored logo of the slogan adorned with a coconut tree, an endangered tiny primate called a tarsier, the sun, and waves.
Critics called for the country's eight-year-old tourism slogan, "Wow Philippines," to be retained. - Agence France Presse
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=34507.0
