Hug Thailand and Thailand will hug you

July 8 2010, 5:13 pm | BY Kim Shaw | 1 Comment

Hug.jpgThe Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) kicked off a national campaign developed by Leo Burnett Thailand with the aim to motivate Thai citizens to resume domestic traveling – following the recent political turmoil in the country. 

Titled “Hug Thailand”, the campaign went live nationally last week and will be running across TV and print, reaching an estimated 40 million people across 76 provinces in Thailand.

Speaking about the concept behind the campaign, Keeratie Chaimoungkalo, Executive Director, Leo Burnett Thailand said, “The recent unrest has left grievances and pain in the hearts of Thai citizens. The idea is that, whatever that has happened, Thailand is always there to ‘comfort’ us and it is only us that can ‘comfort’ the country.”

Elaborating on the creative idea, Keeratie continued,” We used the act of ‘hugging’ as a metaphor of encouragement for Thais to cherish and heal the country through resuming their domestic travels. The genuine, relaxing tone and manner of the campaign is intended to put smiles back on people’s faces.”

The 60-second TV spot captured the essence of the beauty of Thailand, combined it with a lighthearted voice over encouraging people to ‘hug’ these elements and Thailand, as well as let Thailand ‘hug’ Normal.dotm 0 0 1 98 564 Campaign Brief 4 1 692 12.0 you.

VIEW THE SPOT.

English Translation: Hug the sky. Hug the stream. Hug the mountain. Hugthe prairie. Then let the tree hug you. Hug the small boat. Hug thebig boat. Hug the mangrove. And be hugged. Hug the giant rock. Hugthe radar rock. Hug the FIFA cup….Huh? Hug the custard apples. Hugthe mangosteen. Hug the rambutans. Hug the durian….but beware of itsspikes. Hug the monkeys. Then let the monkeys hug you. Hug the hippo. Hugthe fish. Then let the fish hug you. Hug the haystacks. Hug thescarecrow. Hug the flowers. Hug the butterfly……Ocean Butterfly. Traveldown to hug the blue sea. Travel up to hug the mountain mist. HugThailand and let Thailand hug you. Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Credits – ECD: Keeratie Chaimoungkalo. Art director: Pipat Uraporn. Copywriter: Denchai Kheereeluk. Planner: Praphalrat Tongsiri. Client Servicing: Anocha Luksanasut, Samira Thancharoenkit, Peraya Sansaneesoontorn. Media agency: Starcom. Media planner: Surakit Danusathienpong. Production house: Mucky Muck. Director/Photographer: Anuphap Phongnametta.