Over the past couple of months, Malaysia’s tourism industry has been no stranger to criticism.
Just last month for example, the unveiling of the new Visit Malaysia Year 2020 logo drew a lot of backlash from locals, who criticised the design and called it “humiliating” because of the poor graphic design.
Source: Malaysian Insight
Now, it looks like another effort by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture has come under fire, as a video featuring footballer and ambassador to Tourism Malaysia, Luis Suarez, has garnered a lot of criticism from local netizens.
The 20-second video shows Suarez saying “hello” in Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil while dressed in a baju Melayu, samfoo, and kurta respectively, with popular tourist destinations green-screened in the background.
Many Malaysians on social media criticised the seemingly poor production quality of the short video, while others also pointed out the cost of the entire campaign and the choice in ambassador as well.
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
In response to the criticism, Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz defended the ministry’s decision to make the FC Barcelona footballer an Tourism Malaysia ambassador. He clarified that thanks to cooperation from Suarez’s team, these video advertisements will be screened at 18 stadiums during La Liga matches, according to MalaysiaKini.
The minister added that RM4.4 million was spent on advertisements, saying,
“RM3.1 million was paid for the costs of the four videos with a 60-second duration each, featuring Suarez promoting tourism destinations, culture, food and traditional sports in Malaysia via his social media.”
As for the footballer, he is reportedly being paid RM750,000 for each advertisement he’s featured in. Walao!
What do you guys think of this campaign? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: New Visit Malaysia Year 2020 Emblem Slammed by M’sians, Minister Stands by Logo
