Thailand’s new marketing campaign seems to have hit a nerve with travellers, because it features a man who tracks a woman down through her Instagram photos.
Tourism Thailand was hoping the 16-minute long ad named ‘Love en Route’ would lure travellers to visit the country’s picturesque sites, beaches and temples.
But the piece has received some criticism from travellers and viewers who said the video came across as more stalker than cute.
The video starts with a man heading to the airport before sitting miserably in a hotel all on his own.
He then contemplates the different ways people plan out their itineraries (most people use a guidebook or the internet), but says he’s decided to try something different and ‘follow the images from an Instagram account’.
But it wasn’t just the user’s journey he wanted to recreate, he wanted ‘to find the woman in the photos’.
He follows her around the country until they’re eventually sitting side by side on a boat.
The man, Max, finally speaks to her, asking her if she’s the owner of the Instagram account.
She denies it and their conversation comes to an awkward end.
A diver then approaches the woman with a massive sign with the name of her Instagram on it and urges Max to join her on a dive.
The couple pose underwater with the ‘Love en Route’ sign, hold hands and take selfies with a selfie stick.
The ad then goes to a scene where she is sitting alone on the beach flicking through her Instagram.
He (happens to be at the same beach) spots her on the beach alone and comments on an Instagram picture asking if she needs a friend.
She responds to the post with ‘I have enough friendssss [sic]’ – which may not come as surprise because he’s still a stranger following her on Instagram.
But that didn’t stop him from pursing. The two end up on eerily silent trips together until 16 minutes later they’re enjoying each other’s company and seeing the romantic side to Thailand.
After watching the clip, a few people found it somewhat disturbing and all too easy for people to recreate.
Creepy and far too easy to do: #Thailand criticised after trying to lure tourists with ‘stalker’ video http://t.co/XARpFVr6Yt#Instagram
— Frederick Lane (@fsl3) March 1, 2015
Poor #Thailand, striking out again: Tourism Thailand’s creepy ‘stalker’ video’ http://t.co/CotuBijK6t via @ascorrespondent #dictatorship
— Michael X (@BKKMichaelX) February 27, 2015
