It's More Fun in the The Philippines and "sloganeering"

Anxieties and questions about the originality of the Philippines' new slogan "It's More Fun In the Philippines" unveiled Friday morning ensued  after netizens were confronted with an unsettling posting of a purported 1951 ad touting Switzerland, and with the same key phrase 'it's more fun.'

The black and white magazine ad of the Swiss National Tourist Office shows “a smiling, leggy Swiss lass in a bikini on a boat underneath the words —It’s more fun in Switzerland!”

The tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. claimed that this was merely a “coincidence”.“ He stressed "Our strategy is simple: while other countries invite you to observe, Filipinos can promise a more heartfelt and interesting experience. Wherever you go, whatever you do in the country, it’s the Filipinos that will complete your vacation and will make your holiday unforgettable."


However, I am just bothered by the DOT secretary's twitter "MonJQuotes" account: "No one can own the expression "it's more fun" but it's very true for the Philippines so it becomes ours." 


Under copyright law, no one can own ideas but he can own the expression of that ideas. Fun is an idea but to popularize  fun through the wordings like "it's more fun" can be considered as an "expression of idea.".  In essense, , "its more fun" is   a slogan "owned' by the Swiss.

A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm (sluagh "army", "host" + gairm "cry").Advertising slogans are short, often memorable phrases used in advertising campaigns. They are claimed to be the most effective means of drawing attention to one or more aspects of a product.Slogans vary from the written and the visual to the chanted and the vulgar. Often their simple rhetorical nature leaves little room for detail, and as such they serve perhaps more as a social expression of unified purpose, rather than a projection for an intended audience.An effective travel slogan will not only distinguish you from the competition, but it will also affect the business image you project to your target market.


Aside from copyright, slogans can also be the subject of trademark protection, as shown by the list posted  below.  Brand owners have to prove that the slogan they wish to protect has acquired a “secondary meaning” on its own. This means that a distinctive character of the slogan has resulted from the use made of it, before the trademark application was filed. A slogan is thought to have acquired a secondary meaning if the brand owner can demonstrate in the trademark application that the use of this slogan by another party would cause confusion amongst consumers as to the producer or provider of the goods or services.Unless the slogan is in itself inherently distinctive and qualifies as a mark in itself, the trademark office requires that the slogan be identified with the product or service so that the consuming public, upon hearing the slogan, relates it to the particular product or service (secondary meaning). 


Some argue that copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. But In some cases, these things may be protected as trademarks.

Copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, systems, or methods of doing something. You may express your ideas in writing or drawings and claim copyright in your description, but be aware that copyright will not protect the idea itself as revealed in your written or artistic work.


In the event that the Swiss government has a trademark registration for "its more fun", and it is still alive at the moment, then I guess there will be legal issues that may ensue in view of the DOT's statement that "No one can own the expression "it's more fun" but it's very true for the Philippines so it becomes ours." Although the issue of territoriality is significant in trademark  matters, the fact remains that a company that was paid millions (i guess taxpayers' money) should have been more "cautious" in not repeating the mistake of the earlier campaign

Last year, sacked Tourism Secretary Albert Lim came up with a grand launching of the country’s new tourism logo, with the slogan of “Pilipinas kay ganda” which received a lot of flak and was found to have been copied from the tourism poster of the Polish government’s Tourism office.

 Here is an initial list of Popular Travel slogans i sourced from the net. Feel free to add more or make corrections .  Please note that in most sites, WOW Philippines is  still recognized as our slogan until now..

Albania A New Mediterranean
Amazing Thailand
Anguilla Feeling is Believing
Aruba One Happy Island
Belize Mother Nature’s Best Kept Secret
Brazil Sensational!
California Find Yourself Here
Canada Keep Exploring
Croatia The Mediterranean As it Once Was
Ecuador Life at its Purest
Viva Cuba
Egypt Where It All Begins
El Salvador Impressive!
Visit Finland Breathe
Visit Florida
Florida Keys Come As You Are
France Rendez-Vouse En France
Germany Affordable Hospitality
Grenada Rhythms of Spice
Hong Kong Best Place Best Taste
Hungary A Love for Life
I heart New York
Incredible India
Indonesia Admit It You Love It
Italy Much More
Jamaica Once You Go, You Know
Cool Japan
See the world. Visit London
1 Malaysia
Maldives Sunny Side of Life
Montenegro Wild Beauty
Namibia Land of Contrasts
New Zealand 100% Pure
Romania Land of Choice
Discover Peru
WOW Philippines
Uniquely Singapore
Slovakia Little Big Country
Slovenia I Feel Love
Smile! You are in Spain
Switzerland Get Natural
Taiwan Touch Your Heart
Tanzania Land of Kilimanjaro Zanzibar and the Serengeti
Texas (visual representation of ‘Everything’s bigger in Texas’ – I think)

Popular slogans that are protected by trademark registrations

Slogan	Product or Company	First use	Author or Agency	Source and notes
A diamond is forever.	DeBeers	1948	N.W. Ayer & Son	Steve Cone, Powerlines: Words That Sell Brands, Grip Fans, and Sometimes Change History‎ (2008), p. 129.
A little dab'll do ya!	Brylcreem			Susan Wilson, One Good Dog (2010), p. 296.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste.	United Negro College Fund	1970s	Young & Rubicam	George R. Bonner Jr., "Public-service advertising nears No. 1 ad pace in US", Christian Science Monitor (April 26, 1983), Business, p. 10.
Always Coca-Cola.	Coca-Cola	1993		Mark Pendergrast, For God, Country, and Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It (2000), p. 398.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.	Apples	1900s		Michael Pollan, The Botany of Desire (Random House, 2001), ISBN 0375501290, p. 22, cf. pp. 9 & 50.
Be all that you can be.	United States Army	1981-2001	N. W. Ayer	Craig C. Pinder, Work Motivation: Theory, Issues, and Applications (1984), p. 50.
Between love and madness lies Obsession.	Calvin Klein's Obsession	1985		Robert Jackall and Janice M. Hirota, Image Makers: Advertising, Public Relations, and the Ethos of Advocacy (2003), p. 212.
Breakfast of Champions	Wheaties	1935	Blackett-Sample-Gummert	Later "The Breakfast of Champions" into the 1990s; cited by Kurt Vonnegut eponymously in Breakfast of Champions (1973), preface: "The use of the identical expression as the title for this book is not intended to indicate an association with or sponsorship by General Mills, nor is it intended to disparage their fine product."
Cabinets fit for royalty, but affordable for all!	Kitchen Cabinet Kings	2011	Anthony Saladino	James R. Gregory, The Best of Advertising Slogans: Best Practices in Corporate Building (2011), p. 23.
Connecting People.	Nokia	1992		Dan Steinbock, Winning Across Global Markets: How Nokia Creates Strategic Advantage in a Fast-Changing World (2010), p. 73.
Did somebody say McDonald's?	McDonald's	1997		Gale Group, Major Marketing Campaigns Annual 2‎ (1999), p. 243.
Do you...Yahoo!?	Yahoo!	1996		Kevin Lane Keller, Best Practice Cases in Branding: Lessons from the World's Strongest Brands (2008), p. 251.
Eat Mor Chikin!	Chick-fil-A	1995		The Richards Group, Atlanta PRNewswire‎ (1995).
Every kiss begins with Kay	Kay Jewelers			Tom Altstiel, Jean Grow, Advertising Strategy: Creative Tactics from the Outside/In (2006), p. 167.
Give me a break, give me a break; break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar	Kit Kat	1986	Ken Shuldman (lyrics) and Michael A. Levine (music), DDB Worldwide	Joe Tracy, Web Marketing Applied‎ (2000), p. 187.
Good things happen when Home Depot comes to town.	The Home Depot	1993		Chris Roush, Inside Home Depot: How One Company Revolutionized an Industry Through the Relentless Pursuit of Growth. (1999), p. 130.
Good to the last drop.	Maxwell House coffee	1926	Allegedly coined by Theodore Roosevelt in 1907, although the claim is dubious; adopted as Maxwell House's tagline in 1926.	Isaac E. Lambert, The Public Accepts: Stories Behind Famous Trade-marks, Names and Slogans‎ (1941), p. 35.
Got Milk?	Cow's milk (for the California Milk Processor Board)	1993	Goodby Silverstein & Partners	Margo Berman, Robyn Blakeman, The Brains Behind Great Ad Campaigns (2009), p. 160.
Have it your way.	Burger King	1973	BBDO	Al Ries, Jack Trout, Marketing Warfare (2005), p. 159.
Have You Met Life Today?	Metropolitan Life	2001		Bonnie L. Drewniany, A. Jerome Jewler, Creative Strategy in Advertising (2007), p. 139.
Home of the Whopper.	Burger King	1957		Al Ries, Jack Trout, Marketing Warfare (2005), p. 163.
I want my MTV.	MTV			Mark Tungate, Media Monoliths: How Great Media Brands Thrive and Survive‎ (2004), p. 41.
I'd walk a mile for a Camel.	Camel cigarettes	1921		Henry Hobhouse, Seeds of Wealth: Five Plants That Made Men Rich‎ (2006), p. 226.
I'm lovin' it.	McDonald's	2003	Heye & Partner, an affiliate of DDB Worldwide	Tom Altstiel, Jean Grow, Advertising Strategy: Creative Tactics from the Outside/In‎ (2006), p. 293.
Is it live, or is it Memorex?	Memorex video cassettes	1970s		Richard D. Leppert, Susan McClary, Music and Society: The Politics of Composition, Performance, and Reception (2001), p. 174.
It pays to advertise!	Advertisements	1920s	Dorothy L. Sayers for S.H. Benson's	Mitzi Brunsdale, Dorothy L. Sayers (1990), p. 94.
It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.	Timex Corporation	1956		William Harley Davidson, José R. De la Torre, Managing the Global Corporation: Case Studies in Strategy and Management (1989), p. 21.
It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.	Perdue	1972	Scali, McCabe & Sloves	Robert F. Hartley, Marketing Successes, Historical to Present Day: What We Can Learn (1985), p. 171.
Ivory Soap - 9944/100% Pure.	Ivory Soap	1882	Unknown employee of Procter & Gamble	Julian Lewis Watkins, The 100 Greatest Advertisements: Who Wrote Them and What They Did‎ (1959), p. 7.
Just Do It.	Nike	1988	Wieden & Kennedy	Robert Goldman, Stephen Papson, Nike Culture: the Sign of the Swoosh‎ (1998), p. 19; authorship attributed to Wieden & Kennedy in Communication Arts (1988), p. 151.
Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.	State Farm Insurance	1971	DDB Worldwide	Richard Jackson Harris, A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication‎ (2004), p. 100.
M'm! M'm! Good!	Campbell's Soup	1931		James R. Gregory, The Best of Branding: Best Practices in Corporate Building (2004), p. 84.
Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.	Maybelline	1991		Robin Andersen, Jonathan Gray, Battleground: The Media‎ (2008), p. 7.
Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.	M&Ms	1954		Joël Glenn Brenner, The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars, (1999), p. 172.
Nothing outlasts the Energizer. It keeps going and going and going.	Energizer batteries			Robert Goldman, Stephen Papson, Sign Wars: The Cluttered Landscape of Advertising‎ (1996), p. 45.
Obey your thirst.	Sprite			Robert Goldman, Stephen Papson, Sign Wars: The Cluttered Landscape of Advertising (1996), p. 263.
Oh, what a feeling!	Toyota	1979		Donna Jean Umiker-Sebeok, Marketing and Semiotics: New Directions in the Study of Signs For Sale (1987), p. 524.
Pork. The Other White Meat.	National Pork Board	1987	Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt	Philip H. Dougherty, "ADVERTISING; Dressing Pork for Success", The New York Times (January 15, 1987).
Probably the best lager in the world.	Carlsberg	1973	Saatchi & Saatchi	Jack S. Blocker, David M. Fahey, Ian R. Tyrrell, Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia (2003), p. 140.
Put a tiger in your tank.	Esso/Exxon			Brian Ash, Tiger in Your Tank: The Anatomy of an Advertising Campaign (1969), p. 60.
So easy a caveman can do it.	GEICO			Laura Lowell, 42 Rules of Marketing (2007), p. 21.
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.	Peter Paul Almond Joy & Peter Paul Mounds	1953	Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample	Linda K. Fuller, Frank Hoffmann, Beulah B Ramirez, Chocolate Fads, Folklore & Fantasies: 1,000+ Chunks of Chocolate Information (1994), p. 60.
Taking Care of Business.	Office Depot			Arthur A. Winters, Peggy Fincher Winters, Carole Paul, Brandstand: Strategies for Retail Brand Building (2003), p. 148.
The lion leaps from strength to strength.	Peugeot	1980s		J. Jonathan Gabay, Gabay's Copywriters' Compendium: The Definitive Creative Writer's Guide (2006), p. 602.
The pause that refreshes.	Coca-Cola	1929	D'Arcy Co.	Edward Collins Bursk, The world of business‎ (1962), p. 335.
The world's local bank.	HSBC			Philip Kotler, Waldemar Pfoertsch, Ines Michi, B2B Brand Management (2006), p. 102.
There is no spit in Cremo!	Cremo cigars by American Tobacco	1929		Radio campaign on the new Columbia Broadcasting Service (CBS); cited in Erik Barnouw, The Sponsor: Notes On a Modern Potentate, Oxford University Press, 1978, page 25, ISBN 0-19-502614-4.
We do it all for you.	McDonald's	1975		Robert Goldman, Reading Ads Socially (1992), p. 97
We drink all we can. The rest we sell.	Utica Club	1965	Doyle Dane Bernbach	Art Direction‎ (1967), p. 133.
We love to see you smile.	McDonald's	2000	DDB Chicago, an affiliate of DDB Worldwide	Howard Cannon, Brian Tarcy, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Own Restaurant (2001), p. 138.
What would you do for a Klondike bar?	Isaly Dairy Company's Klondike bar	1984		Dwain Neilson Esmond, Can You Hear Me Now?: Young Adult Devotional (2004), p. 140.
When it absolutely, positively, has to be there overnight.	Federal Express	1982	Ally & Gargano	Steve Cone, Powerlines: Words That Sell Brands, Grip Fans, and Sometimes Change History‎ (2008), p. 136.
With a name like Smuckers... it has to be good.	Smuckers			Cynthia S. Smith, Step-by-step Advertising (1984), p. 74.
You deserve a break today.	McDonald's	1971	Needham, Harper & Steers	Steve Cone, Powerlines: Words That Sell Brands, Grip Fans, and Sometimes Change History‎ (2008), p. 136.
You're in good hands with Allstate.	Allstate			Sidney J. Levy, Dennis W. Rook, Brands, Consumers, Symbols, & Research: Sidney J. Levy on Marketing (1999), p. 15.
You got peanut butter in my chocolate! You got chocolate in my peanut butter! (Voiceover) Two great tastes that taste great together.	Reese's Peanut Butter Cups	1970		Andrew Hargadon, How Breakthroughs Happen: The Surprising Truth about how Companies Innovate‎ (2003), p. 56; reported in part in Andrew F. Smith, Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food‎ (2006), p. 228 (specifying date and attributing authorship to Ogilvy & Mather).