OPINION: On a recent trawl through social media I came across this photo of a tacky advertisement located at a bus stop in Vancouver, promoting Air Canada's upcoming seasonal direct flights to Auckland.
Anyone in the business of promoting Tāmaki Makaurau is spoiled for choice with photo opportunities.
You could go with the wild west coast, the stunning Hauraki Gulf, one of our many volcanos or even the inner Waitemata Harbour.
But, instead, the airline - or the advertising agency working on their behalf - went with a photo of a couple eating ice cream in front of a less than glamorous angle of the Auckland skyline.
The person who posted the photo, a Kiwi visiting Canada, was surprised and disappointed by the odd image being used to entice Canadians to visit our biggest city.
"Surely they could do better," one comment said.
I became somewhat obsessed with just how bad the image was and tracked down the exact location it was taken.
The downtown Wilson carpark building.
It's from here that Canadians were being shown our City of Sails. Who needs Rangitoto Island when you can have Fanshawe Street as a backdrop?
The poster could be among some of the worst tourism ads ever, but it may not be the worst.
This is an ad for India, or is it Scotland?
And, ignoring the bad grammar, nothing says India like a kid holding a goat in the snow:
Earlier this year Australia's Northern Territory hit the headlines with this campaign:
So, it seems Auckland is in good company when it comes to tourism marketing failures and Air Canada, along with many others, 'could do better'.
Air Canada didn't want to comment when contacted by Newshub however, following our enquiries, the advertisement has disappeared. Hopefully, to be replaced with something a bit more appealing.
Dan Lake is Newshub's digital travel editor.
