Rhode Island tourism video accidentally features a clip of Iceland

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This was published 8 years ago

Rhode Island tourism video accidentally features a clip of Iceland

By Oliver Smith
Updated
A still from the offending video which shows Reykjavik in Iceland, not Rhode Island.

A still from the offending video which shows Reykjavik in Iceland, not Rhode Island.

A video designed to lure more tourists to Rhode Island has been removed from YouTube after it emerged that a clip of Iceland had been used by mistake.

The two-minute promotional video, which cost $US22,000 ($A29,000) to make, was online for less than 24 hours before the error was spotted by eagle-eyed viewers. Just 10 seconds into the video, a skateboarder is seen performing tricks outside a glass building. Visitors to Rhode Island will struggle to find it, because it's the Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik.

The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, the state's economic development agency, blamed an editing company for the gaffe.

The Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik, Iceland.Credit: iStock

"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," said Kayla Rosen, a spokeswoman. "A mistake was made. Once the mistake was identified, the video was removed."

Iceland has soared in popularity in recent years. Visitor numbers exceeded 1.25 million in 2015 – up from around 500,000 in 2012 – with the country's appearances in the new Star Wars film and the hit US TV series Game of Thrones a contributing factor.

See also: Where you can't escape the GOT fantasy

Its highlights include trendy Reykjavík, vast glaciers, volcanoes and waterfalls, while it is a base for spotting the Northern Lights and whale watching.

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Rhode Island, known as the Ocean State, is America's smallest by area and a summer bolt-hole of the rich and famous. Its attractions include Providence, perhaps New England's coolest city, and its 400 miles of unspoiled coastline.

While both have their appeals, it's probably the first time they've been confused for one another.

It's not the first time a tourism video has featured the wrong destination, however. In 2014 Visit Greece cam under fire for including footage of the Twelve Apostles rock formation – one of the most recognisable sights in Australia. It attempted to justified its use as the clip showed constellations that carry Greek names.

The Hertfordshire town of Berkhamsted was mocked on Facebook in 2014 for handing out a phallus-shaped map to visitors. The map was produced for the Canal and River Trust, but the similarities apparently went unnoticed for some time. "This is one of about 100 maps we've been promoting," Simon Salem from the trust told the BBC. "It does look, as the poster on Facebook says, like a willy. We didn't notice it. Somebody should have seen it, I agree. "You could accuse of us of being a bit naive but canals are long, straight things, and when you draw a map it tends to be that sort of shape. If it gets at least one more person down to the canal then it has worked."

Chinese broadcaster pulls urinating panda

In a move to curb 'bad' behaviour of Chinese tourists abroad, China's national broadcaster CCTV turned to urinating pandas to tell its citizens they need to be better behaved abroad. The TV ad shows the pandas littering, urinating in public, being pushy towards other tourists and spraying graffiti on a tree a Milson's Point, Sydney. The message is clear – and aided by the tag line, 'be a good panda, be a good tourist'. The ad was hen reprotedly taken off air without explanation.

Epic fail: Singapore tourism ad pulled after ridicule

Featuring more cheese than a stuffed-crust pizza, the video entitled 'See where the world is heading' depicts a Filipino couple in Singapore for a romantic getaway as part of their wedding anniversary. People took to social media to mock the badly filmed, dubbed, acted and scripted piece, which was pulled from the government agency's official YouTube channel and Facebook page because it "was not resonating well with audiences".

"Come and Distress in Malaysia"

A stress ball that appeared to have been produced by Malaysia's tourist board caused a stir last year thanks to an unfortunate typo.

An attempt by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to lure more Filipino visitors with a video campaign ended in acute embarrassment. The two-minute clip was published in 2014, but with its terrible dubbing, ear-numbing soundtrack and ludicrous script, it was widely ridiculed on social media websites, prompting its removal from STB's Facebook page and YouTube channel.

The world's least sincere apology

A US air passenger received what was quite possibly the world's least sincere apology letter back in 2014. United Airlines sent the correspondence to one of its customers, but forgot to fill in the case fields, addressing the passenger as "(CUSTOMER NAME)" and the incident in question as "(SPECIFIC EVENT)". Inexplicably, the same airline issued an email apology to another passenger just two months later that began "Dear Mr Human" .

Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler?

Authorities in Mevagissey, Cornwall, raised eyebrows last year by deciding to rename a local beauty spot Hitler's Walk. The moniker dates back to the Thirties, when a local councillor - one Wright Harris - earned a reputation for unstinting dedication in his role as overseer of harbour fees. He had a habit of watching boats come and go from a viewpoint above the town, so residents began referring to it as Hitler's Walk in a mocking jibe at both Harris's officiousness and the then-rising Austrian politician. The joke may have been a slice of defiant British humour in the face of events in Germany, but the amusement value looks to have been lost to the passage of time. And few people were laughing when Mevagissey Parish Council put up the new sign.

The Telegraph, London

See also: Do funny airline safety videos really work
See also: The 18 things Australian travellers are obsessed with

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