White title on black screen: THE BIG TRAVEL AGENCY- 1965.
The camera shows two well dressed people in period clothes on what looks like the set of Mad Men.
A: We overbooked the Paris flight. What can we do?
B: Just give them tickets to Belgium. Lots of people speak French there, and they'll never know the difference.
A: OK.
White title on black screen: THE BIG TRAVEL AGENCY- 1977.
This time, the set and the clothes are in exaggerated 70s styles.
A: We can't send the overbooked Paris people to Belgium any more. They found out about the Eiffel Tower. First they can't find it; then they get mad.
B: Hmm. Maybe we could tell people to make Belgium their first choice. They have great fries, the best beer in the world, and The Death of Marat hangs there. A lot of people think it's in Paris.
A: You're right. They have lots of European architecture too. It's in Europe, you know.
2 seconds of silence.
B: It'll never work.
Belgian tourism logo.
Anncr: COME TO BELGIUM ANYWAY.
After reading through all of your commercials, I wondered what Belgians might list as reasons to visit their country. I just pulled up the Visit Belgium home page to see what it said.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.visitbelgium.com/
You would think the main selling point would be listed in the banner right across the top of the home page. Evidently their most compelling reason to visit is "Only 80 minutes by train to Paris."