Impulses
Pilipinas, so beautiful?
If you were to choose, would it be “Wow Philippines,” or “Pilipinas Kay Ganda?”
Whatever works, I guess.
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But for the many people, much has been said and even done badly (not to mention the plagiarism issue) about this slogan hullabaloo.
Some ask is there a need to change the slogan in the first place?
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Why “Pilipinas Kay Ganda?”
According to DOT Secretary Alberto Lim, the country is better off with a new P200-million budgeted brand that will attract more tourists to the country.
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He further said, the new slogan will work for “kilala naman tayo sa Europe as ‘Pilipinas’…We’re the only Latin country in Asia.”
While the word can pique curiosity, but will it really work in the long run?
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Of course, the new brand is just on its testing stage. It is expected to draw flak due to its newness.
But what is its guarantee that it will yield more tourists as compared to the “Wow Philippines” tagline?
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A lot of friends of mine favor “Wow Philippines” for it is already popular and has even made its way to international cable networks such as CNN, National Geographic, Discovery, and BBC, all the way to videoke bars and local multi-media advertisements.
All the more, it was a brainchild of former Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon. Not to mention that Gordon was the one that I voted in the last presidential elections, I find his wow concept more subliminally effective. It doesn’t need fixing, only improving.
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Wow is an internationally known positive word which may mean wealth/world of wonder, warm over winter, watch our whales, walk our walls.
Why o why should we drop then such brilliant slogan and take the risk of having a hasty, untested, and even contentious one?
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But don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with the Filipino language used as a tagline. That is if the target is our local tourist.
But “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” is inappropriate for foreign tourist. That explains why almost all countries use English for their own tourism slogan.
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This catchphrase issue is unquestionably vital for our tourism industry as it may paint the very nature of our tourism policy for the next five years of P-Noy administration. We are talking about increasing the tourist visit from just the meager 2 million tourists a year to 6 million for the next two years, this not to mention our multi-billion-dollar balikbayan customers.
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We are done with the serious stuff. Here are some of the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” lines people may find amusing.
Pilipinas, Kay Bongga!
Wow ganda! Wow andumi! Wow ang sikip! Wow ang korupsyon grabe!
Matahum ka Pipinas!
Pilipinas Vice Ganda!
Pilipinas Win na Win + Umagang Kay Ganda = Pilipinas Kay Ganda
Willing-wili sa Pinas
Beautiful Philippines (Magandang Pilipinas)
Incredible Philippines
Amazing Philippines (Thailand)
Philippines (Malaysia), truly Asia
Philippines, explore the wonders
Pilipinas ko Tinluan Ko!
Email: h_lagon@yahoo.com.
