When you’re trying to get people visit your state and see all its wonderful sights, a tourism video can be just the thing to lure travelers. But if that video contains footage of an entirely different locale, say, one that’s out of the country, it’s not going to be a very effective tool for boosting tourism. Rhode Island officials know how that feels now, after they accidentally included stock footage of Reykjavik, Iceland in a video for their home state.
State officials pulled the video off YouTube on Tuesday after viewers noticed it included a scene shot in Iceland’s capital city, the Associated Press reports.
The video landed online Tuesday for a new tourism campaign. The scene opens on a skateboarder outside a glass building, the AP says, with a narrator saying, “Imagine a place that feels like home but holds enough uniqueness that you’re never bored.”
The thing is? That building is the Harpa concert call and conference center in Reykjavik, viewers pointed out on social media. Oops.
The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, which handles economic development in the state, confirmed the mistake and pointed a finger at a video editing company.
At first, the agency’s art director said he could “assure that all shots” were in Rhode Island. But then later on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the agency confirmed the gaffe, adding that an editing company had used the wrong footage.
“As the Commerce Corporation put this presentation video together, explicit instructions were given to the local firm that helped with editing to use only Rhode Island footage,” a spokeswoman told the AP. “A mistake was made. Once the mistake was identified, the video was removed.”
The video is being updated at no cost to the Commerce Corporation or to Rhode Island, she said.
Oops! Rhode Island tourism video features Reykjavik, Iceland [Associated Press]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist