We've all been there. You come to Thailand, get your bag/passport/shirt stolen and you are left wandering the streets shouting at policemen, throwing rocks at cars and sulking at a cute girl who hands you an orange juice and a phone charger. It's essentially a rite of passage all young men have to endure on their first weekend in the country. Right?
Going viral: The I Hate Thailand clip, partly cheesy and partly moving, has been seen nearly two million times and is a break from past promotions.
The only thing left to do is take your phone, miraculously not swiped by those pesky monkeys, and upload a rant to YouTube. Shirtless, of course, for the ladies.
This is how the world was introduced to James, who late last month suddenly became the country's unshaven face to the world in a video called "I Hate Thailand". The first twist is that James doesn't hate the country at all, but is instead taken in and won over by the warm hospitality of the locals.
The second twist is that the video was a scripted, unbranded advertisement from the Tourism Authority of Thailand. James, in reality, is Oliver Smith, a 24-year-old Briton who has a bar and hostel on Koh Samet. Even though he has taken part in magazine shoots and wouldn't say no if Hollywood knocked on his door, Smith is at pains to stress he is not a real actor.
The TAT just arrived on the island and asked if there were any good-looking young farang around. "You have to see Ollie," was one taxi driver's response. Smith read the script and saw similarities to his experiences in four and a half years in Thailand, especially in the kindness of strangers, and jumped at the chance. As did plenty of others: only two faces in the clip are not local to Koh Samet.
"I actually found the process really fun. I have never done anything like this before," Smith said. "When I saw the end result, I thought it was a nice short movie that I personally could relate to."
Some viewers have cried foul at the inherent trickery of unbranded advertising, where it can be hard to know what is real and what is fake, while others have scoffed at the clip's corny moments. All of this only provided the sort of attention a video needs to go viral.
There are also expats who have taken to social media to express how they cringed inside when seeing James struggling to bathe with a bucket. But these kind of "throw another shrimp on the barbie" cliches that have locals recoiling play much better internationally.
"You are always going to get criticism. Some people will find something negative to say about anything," Smith said.
"There are parts that are very cheesy, but there are parts that are moving. Thailand in itself can be cheesy, so it portrays that well."
The clip is certainly being talked about. I Hate Thailand has been noticed around the world: London's The Telegraph described it as "counterintuitive", Melbourne's The Age said "it is an unusual title for an ad meant to promote tourism" and the International Business Times pointed out "the video is actually not intended to make things worse" after a rocky year for the country. The clip has been seen nearly two million times.
"I had no idea that it was going to happen that way," Smith said. "I have had friends from the UK ring up and say, 'Was that you?' It just spread. I didn't anticipate that at all. It's getting a lot of attention.
"It's nice to see something showing Thailand in the light that people here know it in."
But how does the campaign stack up against others from around the region?
THE GOOD
Robin Hicks, the editor of the Mumbrella Asia media and marketing website, ranks the I Hate Thailand clip among the region's best tourism campaigns of late. Strange as it seems to promote a country by asking a foreigner to say they hate it (at first), it is bold and has changed the conversation internationally.
"It's an awfully lot better than the campaign that came before it that celebrated the people of Thailand," Hicks said. "The voice-over was terrible and syrupy — decently shot but the idea [It Begins with the People] was pretty lame.
"I Hate Thailand was certainly a brave departure from the usual fare. Tourism campaigns, for an advertising agency, are pretty much the most difficult campaign to get right. There are so many different stakeholders. It's one of the only campaigns where government ministers have the final sign-off for an ad, and that's why they tend to be so bad. There are so many layers of creative approval you have to go through to get an ad out the door."
The clip also wins points for responding to issues that have concerned tourists, namely safety or the fear of being ripped off. The video was filmed in August, about a month before the murders of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller. The video may not have been designed as a response, but TAT's decision to release it anyway could be seen as such.
Hicks, however, was first and foremost surprised at the title. "Especially in a country that is fairly patriotic, it seemed to be a little sensationalist as a headline for the video. It's a provocative approach, which, to be honest I am surprised got approved by the TAT. But I definitely think it works.
"That tone and that approach, being non-branded, allows the advertisers to tackle more difficult issues which some people associate with Thailand. It confronted the perception that a lot of Westerners, a lot of farang, have — they assume they are being ripped off, that sort of prejudice — really well. You need a viral, edgier video to tackle some of the prejudices."
But before the TAT celebrates too much at their best idea since the sometimes sarcastically used slogan "Amazing Thailand", there are better campaigns around.
Myanmar — Let the Journey Begin was surprisingly classy for a country emerging from 60 years of military dictatorship. Buddha images, relaxing music and traditional crafts abound, and there's nothing controversial to be seen or heard. In fact, there wasn't a voice-over, suggesting the less said the better, but it was beautiful and enticing.
But one campaign that has lasted more than a decade and has resulted in a significant increase in tourism revenue stands above the rest for its sheer visual splendour. Hicks' verdict: "The best is probably Incredible India. They seem to have got that right. It has captured the essence of India."
Uninspiring: The makers of this promotion really did get lost in the concrete jungle of Singapore.
THE BAD
"Hey Aussies, you think Singapore is boring?" Well, yes. Who doesn't?
Unfortunately, the Get Lost in Singapore advertisement, targeted at Australians, did nothing other than reinforce that idea. Where I Hate Thailand addressed stereotypes and prejudices in a playful, all-too-cheesy way, this 2012 ad campaign end up being "hackneyed", Hicks said.
"It confronted all the negative perceptions Singaporeans think Australians have about Singapore, that it's boring, it's a concrete jungle.
"They tried to tackle all of those negative perceptions and put the country in a more positive light, which it did badly."
The problem was the campaign was too clinical, too planned and too formulaic. Just like Singapore.
As for Malaysia's Truly Asia campaign, it may not be truly bad, but in Hicks' view it suffered from being too generic. It could have been anywhere in Asia, which is not a good selling point when trying to stand out from the crowd.
Bad in a different way was one Astana unleashed on the unsuspecting internet two years ago for Expo 2017. The Guardian explains it this way: "CGI eagles, pumping tech-house, solar systems, more eagles and a gigantic human hand holding a DNA helix — where else could it be but Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan?" It's a wonder it's only been viewed 58,000 times.
On the mark: One of the most successful campaigns has been the decade-long Incredible India, for its sheer visual splendour.
Too generic: Malaysia’s Truly Asia campaign doesn’t stand out and looks like it could have been shot anywhere in the region.
THE UGLY
We don't mean to pick on Singapore, but they gave us an ad so bad they tried to kill it off themselves. Slammed as a contender for worst tourism ad ever when first seen earlier this year, the ad was an attempt to appeal to Filipino tourists.
"I like coming back to Singapore, there's always something new to see here," says the man, with about as much expression as the Merlion. "Well, I'm just happy we're spending our anniversary weekend here again," replies his wife, in a terribly dubbed accent that sounds even less natural than the dialogue.
That was the high point. Those willing to endure another two minutes into the clip would discover that the wife's anniversary present to her husband was a positive pregnancy test. "Surprise," she says, flatly.
The tagline is "Singapore. See where the world is heading", which makes you fear for the planet's future. Mind you, they are trying to sell a soulless and sterile shopping mall that disguises itself as a country, which can't be the easiest thing for an advertising agency to do.
Hicks called it an "absolute howler".
"Sometimes you do wonder if creating a piece of content that is so terrible is actually a strategy because it will go viral," he said. "It is so difficult to package a country, especially a country with such a lack of identity. It's a new country. When you've got such an undefined brand, as it were, and it's really difficult to get right." n
