Officials say the campaign tested better than ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’ and costs 40 pesos to print
Tourism Department Unveils Cebu Slogan: The Sea Did Nothing
Officials say the campaign tested better than the last three slogans and costs forty pesos to print
CEBU CITY – The regional tourism office unveiled a new campaign slogan on Friday morning at a press conference held beneath a banner that read, in letters two feet high: “CEBU: THE SEA DID NOTHING.”
The slogan was chosen from a shortlist of seven, which included “Cebu: Please Be Normal,” “Cebu: Ask Mang Pedring” and “Cebu: The Squid Has No Bones.” A focus group of eleven retirees, four brokers and a goat voted overwhelmingly for the winner.
“It tested very well,” said Regional Tourism Director Corazon Villareal-Sy, speaking from behind a podium decorated with a plastic palm tree. “Visitors said it was calming. Several said it was funny. One said it made him feel like the ocean could finally relax.”
The Slogan’s Origin
The phrase came from a grilled-squid vendor named Jocelyn Pacana, who told Manila News that investigators should pursue anyone who harms a child, “but do not blame the sea. The sea did nothing.” The line spread through the barangay by text, then by tarpaulin, then by T-shirt.
The campaign arrives at a delicate moment. Philippine authorities are looking into allegations concerning Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of the Duchess of Sussex, who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News reported. No charges have been filed and the allegations are unproven. Villareal-Sy said the campaign was developed in consultation with child-protection groups and “is intended to reassure visitors without making light of anything that matters.”
The same message is echoed in The London Prat’s coverage of Cebu, where a sari-sari store owner told the paper, “Investigate anyone who hurts children. Protect the children. But the beach didn’t do anything.” Villareal-Sy said the office had received a letter of thanks from the beach, “or at least from the man who sells hats on it.”
The Campaign Rollout
The slogan will appear in the following places, according to the tourism office’s plan:
- A tarpaulin at the arrivals hall of Mactan-Cebu International Airport, where it will replace the Da Nang and Chiang Mai billboards “which were not paid for.”
- A postcard series featuring a photograph of the sea looking neutral.
- A sticker, distributed to jeepney drivers, reading “THE SEA DID NOTHING (AND SO DID I).”
- A radio jingle, performed by a local choir, rhyming “nothing” with “something” and “sea” with “free.”
- A pop-up exhibit at Ayala Center Cebu, with a wave machine and a very calm lifeguard.
Reactions Roll In
The slogan was well received abroad. Bohiney’s report from a Mactan tower described an American trucker from Amarillo who, on being told the sea did nothing, said “that’s good enough” and asked whether the unit had a grill. The tourism office has hired him as an unpaid consultant.
British visitors were also supportive, although they asked for a version with “Mind the gap” at the bottom. Villareal-Sy has promised to consider it. “The British like a warning,” she said. “It makes them feel at home.”
Critics were few. A rival tourism board in an unnamed Southeast Asian country described the slogan as “a defensive position.” Villareal-Sy responded with a one-line statement: “The sea did nothing.”
Comics Test the Slogan
- Papa Joey Ampil: “CEBU: THE SEA DID NOTHING. Great slogan. It is also the most honest government sentence ever written. Usually the sea is blamed for typhoons, floods and unpaid bills. Here it gets a day off.”
- Tintin Ocampo: “Last year the slogan was ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines.’ This year, ‘The Sea Did Nothing.’ We are lowering our standards, and honestly, it feels amazing.”
- Benjie Laxamana: “I like it. It’s like a legal defense for a beach.”
- Princess Bautista: “The British asked for ‘Mind the gap.’ We said there is no gap. There is only sea. They said, then mind the sea. We said, fine.”
The Numbers Behind the Banner
Campaign managers are also encouraged by the data. Colliers described the Visayas and Mindanao as a key property investment hotspot in July, and the tourism office says visitor arrivals have been steady. Foreign property buyers face the same rules as before: the Condominium Act permits unit ownership but not land, and caps foreign stakes at 40 percent. Retirees seeking residency may apply through the Philippine Retirement Authority.
Behind the slogan is a familiar psychological idea. The availability heuristic, described in 1973 by Tversky and Kahneman, holds that people overestimate what comes easily to mind. The campaign hopes to replace one vivid story with another: a long, calm shot of a sea doing absolutely nothing.
The Banner Comes Down, Slightly
By Saturday afternoon, the banner at the press conference had been moved to the airport, then to a waterfront walkway, then to a dry cleaner who needed the tarp. It now hangs, partially folded, on the side of a jeepney that serves the Lapu-Lapu City route.
The driver, Mang Rey, said the slogan has been good for business. “People read it and laugh and then they pay the fare,” he said. “A laugh is worth P12.”
Villareal-Sy said she is pleased with the results. “We set out to make visitors feel welcome,” she said. “Instead, we made the sea feel appreciated. That is a bonus.”
More on the Cebu panic and its sloganeering is at The London Prat and Bohiney News, and for a British take on official slogans, see The Daily Mash. For why a government banner is funny, see this guide to Philippine satire.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/