I left the Philippines behind in 2004 and I embraced the unique Canadian culture and loved the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. However, leaving my childhood home meant that I had friends left behind and I am forever grateful for the existence of social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter) so I can keep in touch with everyone I miss back there. 

And this past month, while taking a Block Week course on Tourism, I’ve seen the products of #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines campaign on both my News Feed and Twitter Timeline and I have to say they’ve been absolutely humourous and spot on. 

Few favourite examples: 

The Philippines, despite having 7,107 islands (yes, that’s a number I’m not really likely to forget - it was drilled into my head repeatedly in elementary school), beautiful wonders that range from the Chocolate Hills, Vigan Village, to the Palawan Caves, and finally, a lively culture that manages to encompass Spanish, Chinese, Malay, and North American influence, it’s lagging behind other Southeast Asian countries in Tourism. 

It might be a distinct lack of identity - what does it mean to go to the Philippines? The appeal in here is the fun aspect of the country. The warm people, the tongue-in-cheek humour of it all generated a lot of buzz.

It’s all about being real. Mon Jimenez, the top honcho in Philippine tourism got it right… to attract foreigners, we got to start where the Filipinos are. Instead of the old school, spray and pray style of marketing, the key is to generate buzz through social media.

Most importantly, Filipinos should own it, love it and promote it.

However, I worry that it’s a very limited approach. There’s a lot of inside jokes and some are just downright inappropriate. 

Say this one:

Yes, that’s cock-fighting. Yes, it’s a pun on a very addicting game (one that I play even on my laptop). And finally, yes, it’s funny. 

Humour appeals are great - they have higher recall and you can talk about it and increase your social status if that is measured in wit and knowledge. I giggled.

But thinking about it - is it really appropriate? What will animal rights groups in other countries think of this? Do many people even know what this is? (Other than Filipinos, of course.) What potential repercussions will publicizing this have on the country’s image?

In my short attempt to look up this meme, I failed to understand what their target market is. “Foreigners”? So anyone outside of the country? I mean, it might work - fun is an universal value but I don’t know if that’s an enough draw to get flights booked ASAP. It might be a quick laugh, but.. I don’t know if that’s enough.