PHILIPPINES, NOVEMBER 19, 2010 – The “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” campaign, shot many times over before getting off the ground, is not yet dead. The campaign, launched on November 15, rekindled fondness for the “WOW Philippines” effort that preceded it, among other less positive sentiments. The fiery uproar over the Department of Tourism new logo and slogan was fanned yesterday when blogger Spanky Enriquez noted the logo’s similarity to Polish tourism logo, which uses the same font, but is arguably less Google-y with its colors.
Legislators and admen reacted, leaving those involved in the defensive. President Benigno Aquino III has called for focus group discussions on the campaign. In a message to ABS-CBN News, Campaigns & Grey Chair Yoly Ong said that the line is still being tested. Ompong Remigio, ECD of Campaigns and Grey, told adobo that “there is no campaign yet as of now since the so-called launch was just a preview. A lot of work still has to be done.”
In a note on Facebook, DOT Undersecretary Vicent Romano III said that he was responsible for the the beautifulpilipinas.com URL and asked for the help of citizens to build a wiki-website.
The slogan has proved to be the Philippines’ answer to the Gap logo fiasco, not only for the online outpouring it caused, but also for its answer to the Crap Logo Yourself website: a create-your-own “_____ Kay Ganda” logo app on Facebook, which surfaced yesterday but disappeared today. Here it is again.
A Facebook page DOT D.I.Y., which went live on Wednesday evening, is calling for logo and tagline submissions until November 24, which will then be collated and sent to DOT.
Graphic design studio Team Manila responded with new visuals "inspired by the campaign" and even brought out the Philippine tourism posters it designed a few months back.
Commenters have mentioned that NAIA Terminal 1 and the safety reputation of the country are more telling of the state of the country than any slogan. Branding can do many things, ’tis true, but it is no cure-all for the country’s ills. Philippines is so beautiful, but you have to know where to look.
