This is my reaction to Department of Tourism (DOT) new slogan that launched on July 5, 2023. The Philippines’ DOT has new slogan from decade old “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”, it was changed to “Love The Philippines”. I am a fan of local travel. I am not so much interested to travel to different countries because I believe my Philippines is much better than those fancy international destinations that most of my kabayans are keen of choosing. For one thing, I am a nature lover than modern-time mindset. Besides, I would better support my own and patronize our own products.
I am not a commentator here per se, but I think it is just rightful for me to react because since I love going to different beautiful places in the country, I am in the position to have natural reaction when the DOT new slogan campaign was launched. About two days
after its debut, initially the first reaction I had was to ask “what love, why
love the Philippines.” Definitely there is nothing
wrong to love the country but what initially I felt was what is that love that it wants to convey? With only three words, it was like being left
hanging. Why? What? The
word love is nice. It is positive word
but to use it in that way it gives different connotation that can be negative. The way it is written, is it a command to
love the country, our country? It is dictatorship. Or is it kind of saying a loving Philippines? Does it mean Philippines is love? The new slogan brought questions of whats and
whys. What is
love the Philippines? What love is the Philippines? What Philippines has to love?
Why Philippines has to love? Why
Philippines love? And it was followed by my impressions that it was so simple, unappealing and ambiguous. Others
said it is cringe because it is begging or imperative and imposing.
Unlike the predecessor that was a straightforward phrase, the new
slogan is vague. But when I read the
context of the slogan and watched the slogan video, then I realized the clear message
and it is nice. It is how much there is to love about being Filipino and how
much there is to love about the Philippines.
When you understood our heritage, culture, story, history; you will
definitely love our country. When our guests experienced the places, views,
hospitality, foods, adventures and the moments, they will love the Philippines. Love the Philippines for it has the beauty
that will enchant you. Love the Philippines for its colors that will mesmerize
you and sounds that will spell you. Love the Philippine for the fun that you
will miss, the places that you will look for, and the people you will be thankful you met. What we have will become the reasons to love the Philippines. Love the
Philippines is loving everything about Philippines that you will love to keep
on coming back to the places.
Love The Philippines the slogan is an emotion and an expression. It is expressing that with all these good
things in the Philippines, you will just feel and say you love the Philippines.
You will understand and appreciate it
when you watched the campaign video but reading the slogan alone, it gives
unfavorable feeling. And honestly, it is
not catchy – no catchphrase and it is not something that leaves remarkable good
impact – no recall. To fix but need to keep the words “Love the Philippines” without
being sound dictator, I would like to make it “Love Is The Philippines”, and
this is original from me.
If I were to make the slogan, I made two slogans on which one is an in-depth impact
while the other one is a happy-vibe. “Thousands of Paradise Philippines” and “Feel At Home In
Philippines”. The first one is
representing the archipelago of beautiful places of the Philippines, while the
second doesn’t sound imposing or commanding but it is symbolizing the hospitality
of the Filipinos. “Feeling Philippines” is
a catchy rhyme and quick recall tagline but I am not sure if it is grammatically
correct. I have thought of many more but
their sounds are not original. “Thousands
of Destinations Philippines” is supposedly but Botswana and UAE have presently used
the word destinations. Another is “The Enchanting
Philippines” but Myanmar have used the root word “enchant” while the root word “amaze”
was used by Ghana and Thailand. Senegal and
Belarus have already used “hospitality”.
In the
context of the word love, “Fall in love with Philippines” and “With Love
Philippines” are my propositions. And
lastly “Philippines The Place To Be”, while “Be the Philippines Guests” are my bottom most ideas.
#LoveThePhilippines