United Ad Confuses Shanghai & Kyoto

Old Nov 4, 2018, 7:07 am
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United Ad Confuses Shanghai & Kyoto

Just came across this ad in my Instagram stories. (These are screenshots from a video; think you get the idea.)

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Old Nov 4, 2018, 8:07 am
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It's from their Fall 2018 ad campaign, video is here:
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Old Nov 4, 2018, 8:17 am
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Kyoto has an airport?
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Old Nov 4, 2018, 8:31 am
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Originally Posted by Repooc17
Kyoto has an airport?
It's served by Itami.
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Old Nov 4, 2018, 8:42 am
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Stupid question - I guess this scenery is somehow famous near Kyoto and OP knows for sure it does not exist near Shanghai?

UA does not do ORD-KIX, right?
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Old Nov 4, 2018, 9:05 am
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I lived in Shanghai for 6 years. This could easily be a park in and around Shanghai. While the photo may have been taken in Kyoto, it certainly could be representative of Shanghai.
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Old Nov 4, 2018, 9:30 am
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Originally Posted by username
Stupid question - I guess this scenery is somehow famous near Kyoto and OP knows for sure it does not exist near Shanghai?

UA does not do ORD-KIX, right?
Not a stupid question, but this is not just some random all-purpose "stock image" scenery for Asia. It's the famous Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, and given the complicated history between China and Japan, this would be something akin to captioning footage of the Taj Mahal with 'Pakistan'.

Will the majority of US audiences notice anything? Probably not, but it's such an easy mistake to avoid / fix, why make it?
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Old Nov 4, 2018, 9:31 am
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Originally Posted by username
Stupid question - I guess this scenery is somehow famous near Kyoto and OP knows for sure it does not exist near Shanghai?

UA does not do ORD-KIX, right?
Not anymore UA did do ORD-KIX, flew it many times
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Old Nov 4, 2018, 9:39 am
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Does Kyoto have exclusive claim to a bamboo garden?
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Old Nov 4, 2018, 9:45 am
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Originally Posted by sinoflyer


Does Kyoto have exclusive claim to a bamboo garden?
Obviously not, but this is one is quite iconic and is recognizable immediately as the only one that looks like that anywhere. It is absolutely the one in Kyoto.

Similarly, Niagara Falls has no exclusive claim to being a waterfall but one can certainly tell a picture of Niagara Falls instantly even if a photo caption tries to tell us it is Angel Falls.
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Old Nov 4, 2018, 9:53 am
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Looking at the ad again, in which the other depicted cities are in their actual locations (or at least the sets look very realistic ), I suppose it's the laziness of the ad company to use a stock footage, or it was a last-minute change from Japan to Shanghai. I see how this can be irritating.
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Old Nov 4, 2018, 10:32 am
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Originally Posted by DawgmanOH
Obviously not, but this is one is quite iconic and is recognizable immediately as the only one that looks like that anywhere. It is absolutely the one in Kyoto.
I agree. The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove in Kyoto is pretty distinct. An image search for bamboo groves in Shanghai turns up examples, but nothing like Arashiyama. Heck, a bunch of the images in the Shanghai image search are of Arashiyama.

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Old Nov 4, 2018, 11:08 am
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Originally Posted by RaginPlainsman
I agree. The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove in Kyoto is pretty distinct. An image search for bamboo groves in Shanghai turns up examples, but nothing like Arashiyama. Heck, a bunch of the images in the Shanghai image search are of Arashiyama.
And that may be another part of their error in not knowing that the image used is incorrect.

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Old Nov 4, 2018, 11:22 am
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This reminds me of one of the earliest UA ad campaigns when it had first acquired Pan Am's Asian routes back in the mid 80s. The ad featured a variety of masks, IIRC, and confused Japan with China. More than 30 years on, they are still confused...
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Old Nov 4, 2018, 11:31 am
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Originally Posted by sinoflyer
Does Kyoto have exclusive claim to a bamboo garden?
It does to the one depicted here.
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