My Humps. More Fun in the Philippines

 

My love (love), my love, my love, my love (love)
You love my lady lumps (love),
My hump, my hump, my hump (love),
My humps they got you,

This sounds familiar, right? Its "My Humps" of Black Eyed Peas, their third single from their fourth album, Monkey Business. 

What is hump anyway? 

It could be the fleshy structure on the back of a camel or of some cattle, or a deformity of the back in humans caused by an abnormal convex curvature of the upper spine. It could also be a low mound of earth, a mountain range. It could also mean to engage in sexual intercourse. 

You probably asking by now why I'm discussing such word.

Well, its because I saw an ad on CNN's travel website that says, of all words, "My humps. More fun in the Philippines".

The ad that says "More humps..."

 To be fair, I'm all supportive to this DOT campaign. But perhaps, people behind this ad campaign could have chosen more appropriate word, rather than using my humps. Although the ad features Apl.de ap as the one belting out the background song which we all know as the singer who sang "My Humps", it doesn't make sense considering that humps connotes a sexual intercourse. It keeps me thinking that perhaps the "My humps" ad should be better off if they change Chocolate Hills into Puerto Galera in the background. Indeed, my humps is more fun there.

OK, I'm maybe too old fashion, but that's the first thing came in my mind upon reading it.

The Aquino administration was reported to have spent about P60 million for its initial tourism advertising campaign on CNN, with the hope of attracting more tourist to visit the Philippines.

Is it worth it? I believe so, considering that the country has seen a growth of 16% in tourist arrivals since the DOT launched its "more fun in the Philippines" campaign.

But this effort, and spending, will only go to waste if we do not improve first the tarnished image of the country. 

The same website where the DoT campaign ads appears, also features the Philippines as one of the "World's Most Hated Airports" specifically the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at rank 5. And on a survey conducted by Sleeping in Airports, NAIA top the rank as 2011 Worst Airports. Its been a year now since those surveys came out but the government have yet to address some issues pointed out.

Another factor that the government should be addressing is the security issues. It's too hard to enjoy the visit in the Philippines as kidnapping, holdups and pick pocketing are almost everywhere. To eliminate these distractions will give another point to boost the tourism. We should focus first and foremost with the safety of those tourist we are trying to invite. Security must start as soon as they arrive here and the best way to show they are secure, even from the lack of security personnel is by making sure those CCTV cameras in our airports are working.

Philippines has so much to offer and even without those expensive ads, we can attract more tourist. We just need some improvements.

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