THE CTO yesterday defended an advertising campaign slammed in Ireland as “sexist and tacky”.
Cyprus Tourism Officer Lefkos Phylactides would not comment on the specific ad, but said the campaign aimed to highlight the diversity that Cyprus had to offer.
The CTO came under fire this weekend in the Irish edition of the Sunday Mirror, when columnist Clare McKeon said an advertisement featuring a family arguing over where to go for their summer holidays was a “tacky” and “offensive piece of sexist advertising” that the CTO should be ashamed of.
But Phylactides said the advert was only trying to show the wide diversity the island had to offer to a whole host of holidaymakers.
“To be honest, I haven’t actually heard this particular radio advertisement as it’s new,” he said, adding he had contacted Ireland and the CTO in London yesterday and was waiting for feedback.
“However, the idea of this ad stems from a general idea we have been using to promote Cyprus during this period, which uses the tag line: ‘Cyprus: A whole world on a single island’,” Phylactides said.
He said the general idea had been applied to ads in all media in a number of countries abroad.
“With this ad we are trying to show the wide diversity that Cyprus has to offer in a small place. The CTO believes that this is the comparative advantage that Cyprus has over other tourist destinations” he said, pointing out that other places might have antiquities, beaches, mountains or even monasteries, but that Cyprus had them all.
He said the idea of this particular radio advert concerned a family, where each and every member wanted to go somewhere different
“Some want to go to a beach, some want to go to a place for its culture, and some for natural beauty. The conclusion of the ad is: ‘Why don’t we go to Cyprus, which has it all’,” he said.
“In other words it shows a family with different views and opinions, and our point is, come to Cyprus and you’ll find a common denominator – a whole world on a single island.”
But the Irish journalist describes the squabbling family slightly differently. She said the mother was “ranting about wanting to be in orange groves” while the kids are squealing. It’s then up to the father, “sounding butch and manly – after all he is the only one with common sense and the authority – to announce: ‘Oh, that’s settled, it’s got be Cyprus.'”
But Phylactides would not be goaded into commenting on McKeon’s opinion.
“If the execution at the end of the day gave this reporter the impression that it was a sexist approach and tacky, then that is difficult to comment on, because it’s based on personal interpretation and how sensitive a person is,” he said.
“The CTO just wants to show the diversity the island offers, whether you want a lazy holiday lying on the beach for a fortnight or a 15-day activity holiday parasailing, water-skiing or mountain climbing, or you want to explore the history and culture of the eastern Mediterranean.
“This is the approach we have taken. To find a common denominator for all types of holidaymakers and how choosing Cyprus can make everyone happy.”
Phylactides said the CTO had come up with the concept behind the adverts and that their global advertising agency, Bates Europe, then came up with the actual ad.
“This is a multinational company and deals with Germany, Ireland, the UK and America, not just any advertising agency,” he said, pointing out that their TV spot in Germany had even received awards.
As for the approval for the radio ad, he said it had probably come from the CTO’s offices in London, although he did not know.
“But,” he stressed, “I believe people should hear the advert for themselves before endorsing one journalist’s opinion that it is sexist and tacky. If after they’ve heard it they think so, then fair enough.”
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
