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Monday, January 16, 2012

What "More Fun in the Philippines" really means...









It's not just about the non-creative, outright rip-off...





It's not just about ripping off fellow Filipino, using photographs without his permission or at least a notice...


It's not just about using other countries' images trying to get away with it...

Thailand's Songkran Festival read here

It's not about millions of tax payer's money used to reasearch (for what?), campaign, broadcast, print. No, it's not just about that...


"It's More Fun in the Philippines"... is Filipino culture. "We are better than...", "Our country is better than....". Insinuations.

Is there a Siti Nurhaliza video in YouTube not bashed by Filipino critters? Is there a Miss Indonesia video in YouTube not bashed by Filipinos online? Is there a Thai tourism video on YouTube without any comments -- "In the Philippines we have this and that..."? Are there anything, in any forum or platform, not bashed by Filipinos?

It's more fun in the Philippines "than"....

It's their culture. I hate to admit but this slogan says a lot about them than WOW Philippines in my previous tourism rant.

I love the Philippines. Old friends of this blog knows it very well. And this post... is a reflection that nobody want to see.

"It's more fun in the Philippines than YOURS." It's their culture. Love it or hate it.

****





13 Comments:

Awangku said...

Wow! That's... honest. :S Anyway, love your new blog banner! Way to go

All the best!

Mnason Oanes said...

And here it is. I did expect you'll rant about this. ;)

I guess reality does more than bite, it CUTS LIKE A KNIFE. This post is spot-on and I wish I could come up with a sorry excuse why. You made me actually realize this just now. Thanks! Funny how you quite know more about us than ourselves. But yeah, maybe it is just our culture. BUT I'm still looking forward to that day when we have pulled ourselves from this dump. And i hope that's not so soon.

Anonymous said...

let's talk about human trafficking and child prostitution in thailand? let's rant about that too. just an idea.

i have been a reader for many years. let's stop the bashing.

Chris P. said...

>Love it or hate it (the new slogan) but It's more fun in the Philippines. :D It's just a slogan, for me nothing really bothers with that 60-year old Swiss poster. And sun tanning is definitely "more fun" in the tropics.

>No one can really own the phrase "it's more fun".

>The government with the lack of budget in tourism ads want the people to help in promoting the country in their own way (through social media). And for me it is already a success compared to the previous slogans.

>The photo from Songkran festival was not an official DOT tourism ad.

>I know there are negative comments from Filipino netizens in several websites/forums but it is Not unique to us.

Anonymous said...

@Anonymous:

I don't find this bashing. But rather, an honest evaluation of ourselves.

Oh yeah I forgot, reactions like yours proves how most of us can't handle criticisms, too. Like,we only want to hear good things about us.

On another note, Pisanu actually cares for Pinoys.

Pisanu for BISEAN said...

@Anonymous said..."let's talk about human trafficking and child prostitution in thailand? let's rant about that too. just an idea. i have been a reader for many years. let's stop the bashing."


--- Don't talk about anything YOU DONT have any idea about. It makes you sound foolish and silly. When was the last time you've been out of your island?

Spare me the answer. Stop the bashing (if you know what it means.) You are not welcome here. Shoo!

Unless you leave your name.

(And for the rest of Bisean friends on the thread, thanks for an open mind. You go and rant about what silly anonymous is referring to and invite Bisean to comment. Let's see who's really "in touch".)

Daucus Sebastien Isaac said...

Filipinos are great immitators!!! The most hypocrite country in the region,the most arrogant and self righteous people in the region,so proud of year "50's to 60's" as the the most prosperous naation in the region,(Hey, fellow Filipinos!! wake up and face the reality!!!) You can't even choose to vote for qualified statesmen but most of the time you keep yelling that you are "better than"...Better than whom? Malaysia? Singapore? Thailand? Shame!! Shame!!! Shame!!! I'm a Filipino, and i'm ashamed of rotten filipino culture!!

Anonymous said...

i am malaysian , but i still love other asian country sush as philippines . but deep down in my heart , i'm still curios why the pinoy and indo keep condemn us althought we dont arritate them . if we malaysian are annoying ??

"Malaysia Truly Asia" , this slogan does not meant that the malaysian is the only asia ,.but is about the society n malaysia .fyi , u can find most of asian worker in malaysia.i aspect most of u know that malaysia only has small population compare to our neighboor country , so we provide employees around this country.so u can find many asian worker around the country .mostly from indonesia, bangladesh,pakistan,india or myanmar~~

Mon said...

MAN, THIS IS SO CANDID! I didn't realize this until now.

ᜌᜓᜃᜒ (Yuki ・ 雪亮) said...

Quoting: "Are there anything, in any forum or platform, not bashed by Filipinos?

It's more fun in the Philippines "than"....

It's their culture."

--end-of-quote--

I beg to differ. Not because I am a Filipino (by half) but rather because I lived in the Philippines my whole life. It is not the "Filipino Culture" to bash everyone else "not" Filipino.

Saying it is our culture equates to "it is in our blood" which isn't. The whole world would have been filled with Filipino bashing non-Filipinos if that is our "culture". The world isn't full of that because it is not in our blood to do that.

In fact, I hate it everytime I hear Filipinos saying belittling themselves, their fellow countrymen, and their own nation and comparing everything to our neighbors (that means YOU, YOU, and YOU), that YOU, YOU, and YOU have better lives, have a better country, have a better government, have everything good in this world belonging to YOU, YOU, and YOU but not to us.

That's how most Filipinos see their own country. Almost always, almost all the time, they think very highly of our neighbors and think very lowly of their own.

That is a far cry to your statement that it is our culture to speak negatively against everyone.

Those Filipinos who do what you hate (and trust me when I say, We Hate Them Too), are not even the majority of us.

Please do not generalize. Those are irresponsible, uneducated, disrespectful actions of kids and high school teens who more likely than not, have a very bad (bordering to evil) home and school environment. What do YOU expect from these people? (I am NOT talking about the poor, these people who act that way can come from any and all walks of life.)

I understand it's fine to rant but I don't think there's a need to generalize or 'get-even' or paint a nation or a culture as such. Their actions are not reflective of who we are, of our culture, or the entire race. They're a disgrace and I'm sure we all agree to that. But our culture is not like that.

(And I'm sure I'll be branded as a traitor to my own race by closed-minded individuals again.)

- Greetings again. Back to lurker mode I guess.

Andre said...

The Thailand photo -it was not declared properly by the DOT as an image for the campaign. It was uploaded by someone who cares about the Philippines and it was not of DOT's responsibility. PLS RESEARCH FOR YOUR POST.

Danyhael said...

Filipinos are onion-skinned creatures who cannot accept criticism. Give us a criticism; we will spend months debating if it is constructive or destructive. And if ever we concluded it's the latter, we will gang up to bully you, most especially if you are a foreigner.

Well not me, at least most of my fellow Filipinos who are so drowned with their nationalism, they would rather be a cruel and rude human being who will not give up their "Pinoy Pride" than to be a kind human being who cares not only for their fellow Filipinos but for all the citizens of this planet.

Nationalism, the root of racism.

Anonymous said...

In all honesty, I think "It's More Fun In The Philippines" is actually pretty tame compared to "Malaysia Truly Asia". At face value, anyways, because between the two the Philippines' sound a little more neutral in terms of the kind of message that it wants to send about its country (If you want to talk about insinuations... Well, Malaysia's slogan is a better example). I don't really understand what the big deal is about the Philippines' slogan and I personally think it's a really catchy one, so good for them. And I think overgeneralizing about the Philippines' culture is going out on a limb, though, and quite unfair. What other basis do you have to make your point about what you're implying with regards to the Philippine culture?

And who gives a hoot if the slogan's been used before? Switzerland isn't pitching a tantrum over its reuse. Not a peep from Poland, either.

Just in case you're wondering, my name is Chris G., and I'm not Asian. But I am part of the target group that slogans of any kind are aimed for.

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