The Department of Tourism recently released its newest attempt to uplift the tourism industry of the nation with the tagline “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”. A few minutes after its release, it got bashed for being a copycat of Switzerland’s campaign which ran 61 years back.

Design-wise, I think it’s a logo at par. The font, Harabara, is pretty much a free font online and further customization might have been more preferrable than simply having it stock. What I fancy about it is the woven banig texture though I personally would’ve made it uneven rather than boxed. What I don’t appreciate the most is the country’s color, which I think originates from nothing more than mere political motives.

I’m trying to assess the idea as much as possible from all points of view and frankly, I think the feature of the campaign being flexible enough to add virtually anything to it is a great plus. The witty use of photos and justifying it why it’s more fun in the Philippines is a clever idea, despite the alleged plagiarism over the ’51 campaign.

Though I think what’s gaining the hate over social media is the fact that it’s a campaign which resonates towards the Pilipinas Kay Ganda attempt. The idea of another copycat, yet from the same department, is annoying thought.

What’s worse is the released info of having spent P6.5M on the campaign. A lot simply did not like the idea of spending so much for something which ‘isn’t so unique’.

People claim that there really is no ‘original’ idea, but others reply that there’s a big difference between being inspired and being an identical copy.

Others defend this as no copycat work and more of a coincidence as well as a reality check that it IS indeed more fun in the Philippines and copyrights might already be dead anyway so let’s protect our own ass in this matter. But given the knowledge that there is practically the same worn out campaign made for the same purpose of tourism with another country, do you think this is worth P6.5M, paid by the your taxes? A question of creativity might even be at hand.

Either way, it’s up to the Filipinos if they really want to support, embrace, and live by this or not. That alongside DOT’s willingness to actually stand by what it started, and how well it could progress towards further branding, marketing, and improvement towards a successful tourism campaign.

Your thoughts?