As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to stay indoor more often and opt for travelling within the country, Tourism Malaysia took to its Facebook on Wednesday (11 November) to encourage Singaporeans to do the same.
Following the same Burger King-style ad where the fast food chain told people to eat at its rival McDonald’s to help keep service staff at their jobs, Tourism Malaysia pretty much did the same with its own variation by telling Singaporeans they cannot imagine they are telling us to stay in Singapore and take a “Singapoliday”.
“Just like Burger King never thought they’d be promoting a Big Mac, we too, never thought we’d be asking you to do this,” the ad stated.
It added, “We would never have imagined encouraging you to spend your holidays in Singapore, but our friends in the tourism industry could use your support at the moment. While we dream of soaking under the sun in Pulau Redang, Sentosa is just as good for now”.
As such, it said that if the public wants to help those in the tourism industry, they can do so by rediscovering Singapore first, before ending the ad with #DreamNowTravelLater.
While this advertisement projects the kind-spirit nature of Tourism Malaysia, it also brought attention back to itself – exactly what an ad should do.