Ad error puts Cape Town in France
2012-03-26 19:10
Cape Town - A UK creative agency was left red-faced when it was discovered that a billboard poster displayed in London Underground stations, advertising cheap travel to the north coast of France, actually pictured a Cape Town beach.
The poster shows a family running along a beach under the headline 'Sprint finish on the Northern France Coast', but the distinctive rocks on the spur of land in the background, however, identify the beach as Llandudno, West Cape News reported.
A former Llandudno local, Bradford Bird, who now works in London as a photographer, spotted the error.
Bird said when he looked at the billboard photograph "there was something uncannily familiar about it, and then I noticed the rocks in the background".
The posters offering cheap fares to France were "all over the London Tube", he said
"It’s damn cheeky of them."
Bird took a photograph of the billboard and posted it on his Facebook page with the question 'Anything wrong with this ad??'.
The Llandudno shot depicting the French north coast, as well as another photo taken on Llandudno advertising the French Mediterranean coast, also appear on the French tourism website www.gotofrancenow.com, although the original north coast photo has this week been replaced, West Cape News said.
UK-based The Line Agency produced the advert for the French tourism authority, Atout France.
It's managing director Steve Turton, was highly apologetic, saying "ït's a genuine, absolute mistake".
He said the agency searched through over 3 000 stock photographs under the search header "northern France", until they found an image that they thought was appropriate.
"I don’t know why the people in Brittany did not say ‘that’s not Brittany', said Turton.
He said as soon as the error was brought to his attention he approached the UK advertising watchdog.
“We assured them that we will be replacing the pictures. They are perfectly happy with this action as a resolution to the problem.
"They have not received any complaints from the public themselves," he said.
