British islands in ad scrap over who's hotter

Who needs the romance and champagne of Paris or the bronze beauties and sweet papayas of Waikiki when you've got the inbred daffodil farmers and bean crock with cabbage bread of British Channel Islands like Scilly and Jersey? I'm booking my getaway today! But ... which isle to visit? For the love of god, which!? The two locales are in the midst of an advertising spat, since Jersey staked its claim as "the warmest place in the British Isles." Scilly is perturbed because it is officially recognized as the warmest spot in the U.K.—which isn't saying much, when you think about it—and it even disses its rival for being a second-rate "British Crown dependency." Kind of like Kate Middleton, I guess. Jersey has made questionable pitches in past ads, promising some years back that "our sandy beaches are always spotless," prompting the Ad Standards Authority to observe that "large quantities of untreated sewage had poured onto bathing beaches." Yo, sounds like New Jersey! All in all, a Scilly squabble. Ha ha! Oh man, I need a vacation.

Filed under Europe, Gianatasio, Tourism
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Egypt, Tunisia appeal to tourists in new ads

The recent revolution may have battered Egypt's tourism industry, but it might also hold the key to bringing international visitors back. On Thursday, Egypt unveiled a new ad campaign that celebrates the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak and urges travelers to experience the afterglow for themselves. Eventually planned for TV, print, online and outdoor, the campaign was launched at tourism trade show ITB Berlin with a series of slogans, such as, "Welcome to the country of peaceful revolution" and, "Tahrir—a square rocks the world." Tunisia has also announced plans for a tourism campaign that centers on its revolution, which began in December and set off a history-making series of uprisings across the Middle East. Egypt's new tourism chief is optimistic the country can surge back to its 2010 total of 14.2 million visitors, while Tunisia is shooting to reach 80 percent of last year's tourism volume, which was about 7 million people. Still not stable enough for you to book a trip? Well, there's always Israel, which is launching its own new tourism positioning—as a nice alternative to Egypt and Tunisia.

Filed under Africa, Griner, Tourism
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HomeAway to smush a baby for Super Bowl

In the spirit of throwing anything against the wall to see if it sticks, HomeAway.com is anchoring its upcoming 30-second Super Bowl spot around a baby that gets thrown forcefully into a glass wall, its face distorting horribly at impact and further disintegrating as it slides down the glass. Seriously, they figured this was the best way to promote vacation homes. The baby is possibly not meant to be real—HomeAway is calling it a "test baby"—although everyone else in the scene is human. (The spot, from ad agency Vendor, features a convoluted plot involving a secret government agency that runs tests on people's vacations, and has a "hotel room simulator," where the baby-tossing happens.) HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples says he's just trying to get noticed. "We used the test baby scene to create a 'Super Bowl-worthy' moment that breaks through the clutter of so many ads," he says. "While everyone loves babies and wouldn't want to see a real infant get mistakenly flung into the air, we hope viewers will get a good laugh from our test baby's unfortunate flight. The comic situation is used to highlight the fact that families, particularly those with children, could use a little extra space when traveling." To make the smushing interactive, HomeAway has also built a site where you can put your own face on the baby. Whether or not they've created a Super Bowl-worthy moment for Sunday, they're currently in the lead for the WTF moment of the night.

Filed under HomeAway, Nudd, Super Bowl, Tourism
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Philly helps you get your very own billboard

If you're an aspiring copywriter who's always dreamed of getting your line on a billboard, here's your chance. As part of their "With Love, Philadelphia" campaign, the tourism folks at VisitPhilly.com are seeking headlines for their Write-a-Billboard-Love-Line-Get-Famous promotion. All you have to do is write a one-line love note (to Philly, or at least Philly related) and it could appear on I-95 "for the whole world to see." No, not that kind of love—Philly won't accept lascivious entries with inappropriate content. You can see the lines that have been submitted so far in the gallery on the site. Delaware kindly left them a note saying they love being neighbors. Oh, and Virginia called. They'd like their tourism slogan back.

Filed under Contests, Cullers, Tourism
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Philly crafts welcome-home ads for Cliff Lee

It's been a crazy sports week in Philadelphia, but the craziest development was probably last week's unexpected signing of Cliff Lee by the Phillies. As news of Lee's decision broke, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation sprang into action, whipping up a love letter to the pitcher—a seamless extension of the city's "With Love" tourism campaign—and posted it on Twitter. It flew around the Internet (or at least around the Philly section of it) and prompted the tourism folks to duplicate the message on a billboard on I-95, which is now waiting to be defaced by Yankee fans. GPTMC has also begun crafting love letters to other Philly sports stars, including this note saluting DeSean Jackson of the Eagles after Sunday's defeat of the Giants.

Filed under Nudd, Tourism
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Northwest town unleashes Bavarian hip-hop

Here's your suggestive regional tourism work of the week: a hip-hop video for the town of Leavenworth, Wash., featuring beer-wench cheerleaders and a dirty-minded nutcracker mascot called Woody Goomsba, who just wants to "get his Goomsba up" while watching the ladies gyrate and chant, "Woody knows how to show you a good time!" (Woody is 18 inches tall and looks even bigger on camera.) Leavenworth is best known for its faux Bavarian buildings—thus the German theme. Nancy Smith, executive director at the town's chamber of commerce, acknowledges that the video (by Howell at the Moon Productions) has surprised some Leavenworth regulars, who "found it not to be depicting the Leavenworth they know and love." But it's aimed at younger folks, anyway—those who appreciate a skimpy dirndl now and then.

Filed under Music, Nudd, Tourism
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Utah hates Jared Hess's Utah State Fair ads

Utah thought it wanted Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess to create its advertising for the Utah State Fair—until it saw the finished product. Two TV spots showing actor Markus T. Boddie singing lovingly about a pig and a funnel cake (both Utah State Fair staples) have been rejected by the state, though it's not clear exactly why. The client says it's because they have "sexual undertones" and are "over the top." Hess believes it's because the actor is black. "There are some kind of off-the-record grumblings that have [been] made known to me, and I'm pretty certain that that's the reason," Hess says, according to Salt Lake City's NBC affiliate. Boddie, meanwhile, thinks it's weird that the TV spots were pulled but the radio work is airing. "That said to me, 'Well, we don't want to see you, but we can hear you,' " he says. Boddie, who says he was channeling his inner Barry White for the spots, adds: "There are black people here in Utah that aren't related to Gladys Knight. If we embrace that, then I think that's the image of Utah we want to take forward." The one lingering question, aside from the racism thing: Did the client people bother to look at Hess's reel beforehand? These ads are less weird than some stuff he's done. See the funnel-cake spot after the jump. UPDATE: It's worth noting that the Utah State Fair used the Napoleon and Pedro characters in this well-received 2005 campaign. But those ads were directed by Bryan Lefler, not Jared Hess.

Click to read more ...

Filed under Controversy, Nudd, Race, Tourism
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St. Louis kidnaps people in name of tourism

You know there's an issue with your town when you have to kidnap people just to get them to visit. Apparently unable to find a legal way to lure tourists, St. Louis has resorted to kidnapping folks—in this case, a guy from Chicago—as a way to promote weekend trips to St. Louis. You can play along with this moronic stunt/social-media game by finding out about his torturous ordeals at the microsite, following him on Twitter, and checking in at the locations he's been held at on Foursquare. Hoffman/Lewis created the campaign and festooned the Chicago-area transit system with ransom notes promising a free trip to St. Louis (presumably without the kidnapping part) to whomever could find the guy. While the contest is over, it doesn't seem like they've released the Chicagoan yet. Maybe when he gets more than 200 followers they'll at least untie him. Via Adrants.

Filed under Cullers, Hoffman Lewis, Tourism
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This should be America's official tourism ad

Earlier this year, the federal government created a program to help promote international tourism to the United States. And while I'm sure the result will be a forgettable series of montage spots that are heavy on landmarks and cowboys, I'd like to offer an alternative: Find a way to use the video below, "Guy Walks Across America," which racked up 500,000 views in its first few days online. Created by a few young filmmakers using 2,750 still frames spanning New York to San Francisco, the video evokes more warm feelings about America than almost anything else I've seen. That's due in no small part to the high-energy soundtrack, "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. So I vote the new Corporation for Travel Promotion make this the official tourism ad for the USA. Or they could just do what everyone expects and put some sappy orchestral music behind aerial footage of the Statue of Liberty and call it a day. Hat tip to Len Kendall. UPDATE: The video was actually sponsored by Levi's, which covered the production costs and supplied jeans for the whole crew.

Filed under Griner, Tourism, Viral
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Russians torture donkey to hype parasailing

Something bad happened in Russia. No, I mean worse than usual. A group of Russian businessmen terrified vacationers by parachuting a donkey over a beach along the Sea of Azov, reportedly as a stunt to promote parasailing trips. Why they didn't think of offering this opportunity to a person who might actually enjoy it is unknown at this time, but what we do know is the poor donkey was even more freaked out than the public was. According to a local police official, "the donkey screamed and children cried" before the animal landed awkwardly in the water. Sheesh. And we thought Richard Branson's nude suit thing was in poor taste.

Filed under Controversy, Kiefaber, Russia, Tourism
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Tar balls put damper on Florida's beach ads

Add Florida's "Our coast is clear" tourism ads to the list of things BP's oil spill has killed. BP paid Florida some $25 million to run a campaign reassuring tourists that the state's beaches remained unsullied by the spill. But now that tar balls are floating ashore, Visit Florida has had to change course again—replacing those earlier rushed ads with even-more-rushed ads that promise only some clear beaches. Compare the ads below. "There are plenty of places in Florida where you can enjoy crystal-clear waters and a great beach vacation," says the revised ad. Understandably, they're also hedging their bets with information about non-beachy stuff to see and do on vacation there. So, if non-beach attractions want to offer discounts once the sand goes toxic, that would help a lot. Can they get a BP subsidy, too?

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under BP, Kiefaber, Tourism
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Australians hate new Australia tourism spot

Australia tourism can't catch a break. First, they had the "Where the bloody hell are you" debacle. Then this year's campaign, themed "There's nothing like Australia," got ambushed by mean-spirited parodies. Now, there's more bad news, as the latest spot in the campaign—the musical ad below from DDB Sydney, celebrating the country's signature landmarks—has drawn protests for portraying the natives as "a bunch of tone-deaf bogans." A bogan, apparently, is a lower-class creature possibly related to the American redneck. At this point, I think Australians will complain about anything their country puts out. They all seem to point to the Crocodile Dundee ads as a golden age of self-promotion. But he was a leathery rustic who shaved with a Bowie knife and slept in bogs. Compared to that, a little bad singing from some bogans isn't so bad.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under Australia, DDB, Kiefaber, Tourism
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Not the easiest ad job: North Korea tourism

Agencies always complain about dictatorial clients. The poor shop in charge of promoting vacations to North Korea probably has more to whine about than most. We're guessing the DPRK did this handiwork in-house, since that's more its style. The brief is challenging: position North Korea to American audiences as an unlikely hidden gem for a relaxing vacation and an opportunity to take in some socialist-realist art. The print ad, which appeared in Time Out New York magazine, tries to win over skeptics with quotes from CNN and BBC reporters. There's even a shot of those crazy mass games the North Koreans like to put on with 200,000 or so gymnasts performing for the Dear Leader. Via Gawker.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Filed under Asia, Morrissey, Tourism
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Australia shrugs off parodies of tourism ads

Australia was hoping its new "There's nothing like Australia" tourism campaign would have better luck than the much-hated "So where the bloody hell are you?" effort from a few years ago. But just hours after the campaign launched, it got slapped around by parodies on a rogue Web site, NothingLikeAustralia.net, poking fun at the Aussies and their goofy ways. Tourism Australia is trying to take it in stride. Its managing director says: "We expected that people would spoof the ads, and we are fairly relaxed about that." But it goes to show the perils of tourism slogans that can be spun negatively (see also: New Jersey's classic ambivalent line "Come see for yourself"). It's also a reminder that you should buy up as many alternate domain names as possible. The site's creator wrote on Thursday that "no harm is intended through this site—we're just trying to have a laugh and we're sorry if we've offended TA." 

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under Australia, Nudd, Parody, Tourism
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Without ads, you'd quickly forget the Alamo

"Remember the Alamo" is one of the oldest slogans in American life. As such, it'd be pretty embarrassing for the people who now run the Alamo as a historical attraction if people forgot about the place. A campaign by Austin, Texas-based agency Door Number 3 aims to generate fresh interest in it. Created on behalf of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, the volunteer organization that acts as custodian of the old fortress, ads direct readers to the Alamo's Web site. Of course, the ad shown here (click to see the full version) could have the additional effect of renewing interest in Davy Crockett hats, which readers of a certain age will recall as one of the great fashion sensations of the mid-1950s. One can only hope.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Filed under Dolliver, Door Number 3, Tourism
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Las Vegas dreams up another bogus holiday

R&R Partners attempts to evolve its faux-holiday-themed campaign for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority with this spot about "Jolly Roger Day," another excuse to ditch boring work commitments and head to Vegas. Roger's pirates are jolly, all right, singing and dancing on deck while the ship goes down. All of which begs a question: Where are the chinchillas?! The client's fake-holiday direction began last year with a pair of sublimely silly, superbly stupid "Chinchilli Day" spots with psychotic, cartoonishly violent critters as the star. Those ads succeeded because they were over-the-top ridiculous and impossible to ignore. Musical pirates, unless they're from Penzance ... meh. Now, if bloodthirsty chinchillas had sunk the ship, we'd have a winner. Instead, the British Navy does the pirates in. And Brits are clearly not bloodthirsty rodents. Except for Gordon Brown.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Gianatasio, R&R Partners, Tourism, Vegas
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Ads tout British Columbia's great whiteness

Michael J. Fox, Sarah McLachlan, Ryan Reynolds, Kim Cattrall, Steve Nash and Eric McCormack might seem like a random grouping, but they have a few things in common. They're celebrities, they're Canadian, and—on behalf of Tourism British Columbia—they want you to spend every last cent you have exploring their awesome country. Oh, and none of them is black or Asian. This last fact is a controversial one, as some people are up in arms about TBC's new tourism ads (timed to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver) largely ignoring the province's rich multicultural heritage, aside from a few flashes of Pacific Asian and Aboriginal culture. The assumption is that the ads' overbearing whiteness was deliberate, which seems a bit hasty of a conclusion. Some people aren't mean and racist so much as they're unobservant. All the same, the next ad could have Keshia Chanté in it or something. She needs SAG credits, too.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under Canada, Celebrity endorsements, Kiefaber, Olympics, Tourism
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Idaho making Seattleites relax and have fun

Many Western states, particularly those with National Parks, get built-in tourism help from the movies. Idaho doesn't. (No one ever packs their bags for a visit after seeing My Own Private Idaho.) So, the state's tourism people decided to make their own. Boise agency Drake Cooper made it a reality-style endeavor. They scoured the Seattle area, found a stressed-out family led by overworked patriarch Tobias Lumpkin (his real name), and took them on a 10-day, 2,200-mile tour of the Spud State, with a 24-person film crew along for the ride. The result is The Great Idaho Getaway Project, a pretty great-looking 30-minute visual travelogue (see the trailer below) that does a nice job of highlighting the state's low-key, largely undiscovered charms. The Lumpkins have a great time, seem impressed by the range of activities, and come across as genuinely grateful and actually somewhat relaxed by the end. (Unlike in My Own Private Idaho, no one dies or is forced to have sex for money, which is a plus.) The film might be a bit long for some, but will likely close the deal for anyone casually interested in visiting the area. 

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under Drake Cooper, Nudd, Tourism
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Trips to Vegas won't keep you out of heaven

R&R Partners injects new (eternal?) life into its long-running "What happens here, stays here" campaign for Las Vegas tourism with this spot set at the Pearly Gates. "That's odd, there seem to be a few weekends missing," says St. Peter as he flips through the record of a newly deceased guy's earthly existence. I guess Sin City's powers are divine after all. I'd wager the ultra-violent, crazed chinchillas from Vegas's recent ads are off tormenting less fortunate souls in warmer climes.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Gianatasio, R&R Partners, Tourism, Vegas
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Lethal jellyfish stings World's Best Job guy

It was advertised as the Best Job in the World, so poor Ben Southall, who beat out 35,000 other people to blog about his experiences on Hamilton Island in Australia, probably didn't see this coming. He managed to dodge a myriad of Australia's insanely poisonous creatures and the regular ones that will just eat you. Then, in late December, in his last week on the job, Ben got stung by an Irukandji jellyfish, an almost invisible creature slightly bigger than a match head that can kill you dead. Ah, irony. His symptoms of fever, headache, lower back pain, chest tightness and high blood pressure got him rushed to the hospital and diagnosed. Fortunately for Tourism Queensland, Ben's now fine. He's even taken responsibility for the incident, saying he should have been wearing a full wet suit (which he models, along with a ladyfriend, in the photo above). But the whole thing has shed un-PR-friendly light on two tourist deaths in 2002 caused by the same jellyfish. Note to self: If a job sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers

Filed under Australia, Cullers, Tourism
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For an extreme holiday, come visit Dagobah

Did your plans for a summer cruise on Alderaan get blown to hell? Then it's time to consider a pulse-pounding week on Dagobah, the secluded swampy getaway that's guaranteed to muddy your boots and clear your mind. This marketing video from the Dagobah Tourism Bureau (aka writer and filmmaker Andrew Zilch) will make you want to ditch your friends and enjoy some quality quagmire time. So, if you've been looking for a place with low ceilings, disgusting food and annoying retirees, but you're tired of Florida, come watch the days go by on Dagobah. Hat tip to my brother-in-law, via Topless Robot.

—Posted by David Griner

Filed under Griner, Parody, Star Wars, Tourism
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Florida Keys ads say there's no app for that

There's an app for almost everything, except for things that occur outside the iPhone's 480-by-320-pixel screen. That's the message in this spot by Tinsley Advertising for the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, representing the Florida Keys & Key West. "Real experiences are always worth more," says the voiceover. "So, unplug and reconnect in the Florida Keys & Key West." The Keys join Dentyne gum and Coleman camping gear among the advertisers who are positioning themselves in opposition to the inexorable march of technology.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Previously on AdFreak:
Stop wasting your life online, says Dentyne
Coleman brings camping into the 21st century with iPhone apps

Filed under Apple, Nudd, Parody, Tinsley Advertising, Tourism
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Tourism Queensland disses 'Best Job' shop

It was the most successful, award-winning tourism campaign of the year. And yet "The Best Job in the World" was not enough to get its creators hired as Tourism Queensland's lead agency. Sure, the quirky quest for an Australian island caretaker sparked international buzz and racked up every top-shelf prize in the industry, including three Grand Prix at Cannes. What you may not have heard is that the project's agency, SapientNitro (formerly CumminsNitro), was passed over in August when Tourism Queensland put its account up for review. The snub was a hot point of debate this weekend, as "Best Job" won Australia's top newspaper ad prize. "How can that happen?" the award committee chairman vented. "That's just not fair." I posed the same question on Sunday to Michael Branagh, national managing director for SapientNitro Brisbane. He told me: "We participated in the review, but we actually weren't successful. We thought we were in pretty good stead, but we were beaten by a global behemoth." That winner was incumbent lead agency Clemenger BBDO, which promptly launched the "Hey hey, this is Queensland" campaign, which has been roundly panned. The new campaign even featured "Best Job" candidates, and tourism officials continue to find ways to milk the project for even more publicity. (Branagh says SapientNitro's involvement ended in July.) So, if you're one of the countless tourism marketers looking to piggyback on Queensland's success, here's some good news: You can actually hire the agency that made "Best Job" a global phenomenon. Just cut them some slack if they seem insistent about a long-term contract.

—Posted by David Griner

Filed under Australia, Griner, Nitro, Tourism
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Killer Vegas chinchillas still wreaking havoc

The killer chinchillas are back in this "Three Musketeers" spot, set in France, by R&R Partners for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. It's as absurdly entertaining as the critters' June debut in a south-of-the-border mini-epic that introduced the concept of "Chinchilli Day," a fake holiday used by office drones to take time off from work and hit the Vegas Strip. Once more, the furry-faced hell-raisers unleash comic mayhem on humankind, using swords this time instead of guns and explosives. The chinchillas have no real Vegas connection, and yet the rage-filled rodents have become, in my mind at least, inextricably linked with Sin City. They're the anti-ad icons, brand mascots trapped in a campaign they never made. If they were feted at Advertising Week, they'd blow up the Walk of Fame because, well, that's what they seem to do best. At the very least, they'd give Ronald McDonald fleas. Here's hoping.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

See also:
Las Vegas tourism ad stars killer chinchillas
Las Vegas ads now just all sex and violence
Las Vegas begs small-town America to visit

Filed under Gianatasio, R&R Partners, Tourism, Vegas
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Scotland ad's fake leaves cause mini uproar

The British like nothing better than a good advertising scandal, but this one borders on the idiotic. The Scottish tourism organization VisitScotland has come under scrutiny for—horror of horrors—using plastic leaves in this photo, which advertises autumn vacations in the country. The Telegraph has a whole story on it, in which the tourism people sound irritated at even having to address the issue. "Of course some of the leaves are fake," says one. "The picture is designed to promote autumn, and despite the cooler weather recently ... it was not possible to bring on an early autumn." She adds: "As we're sure all sensible people will appreciate, as autumn has yet to begin, it would be rather difficult to create this beautiful autumnal shot without the use of a few minor props." The little girl in the photo is named Autumn Doring—a name which, in light of the leaves issue, was subsequently questioned as well. But the tourism people say that's really her name. "We especially went out and found an Autumn," says the rep.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

See also:
Scotland overpays for new tourism slogan
Scottish film group touts nation's ugliness

Filed under Europe, Nudd, Tourism
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