The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday described an Executive Yuan advertisement as “ridiculous” after netizens reported the ad as fraudulent to the management of video-sharing Web site YouTube, leading to its removal and the termination of the Executive Yuan’s account for “serious violation of community guidelines.”
The ad promoted the “Economic Power-up Plan,” the government’s massive stimulus plan to rejuvenate the economy, but “was a waste of taxpayers’ money and probably the worst ad in history because it told people nothing while supposedly promoting government policies,” DPP Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) told a press conference.
The 40-second ad showed four people — a young man, a ship owner, a female office worker and an elderly woman — staring cluelessly at a sign reading: “The Economic Power-up Plan” before a narrative cut in.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“What exactly is the Economic Power-up Plan? We would very much like to explain it to you in simple words, but it is impossible due to the complexity … The most important thing is that a lot of things are being done,” the narrator said.
“We might as well run until our legs break instead of just simply talking,” the narrator added.
In addition to being aired on TV, the ad was also uploaded to YouTube under the account “Cabinet168” yesterday. However, so many viewers “flagged” it as inappropriate, saying the commercial and the government were fraudulent, that the video was taken down and the account suspended by YouTube.
“A government account being suspended by YouTube … Our government has became a global joke,” DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said, adding that the Executive Yuan “shouldn’t have produced the commercial if it assumed people would not understand the policy no matter how the government tries to explain it.”
Cabinet Deputy Secretary-General Huang Min-kung (黃敏恭) said the video ad was the second in a series of five video clips aimed at advertising the Economic Power-up Plan.
Former Executive Yuan spokesperson Hu Yu-wei (胡幼偉), while still in office early last month, came up with the idea to promote the core concept of the economic stimulus plan in ads to get people to pay attention to the proposal, Huang said, adding that the core concept was: “To boost the economy, just do it.”
At a press conference held at the Executive Yuan yesterday afternoon, Huang described the removal of the ad from YouTube as a “windfall” in a sense that “now everyone knows that we have the Economic Power-up Plan.”
Under Hu’s plan, the video would have been also aired on TV channels and played in movie theaters for two weeks, but “now I have decided to withdraw all advertising,” Huang said.
“The removal of the video has caught everyone’s eye,” he said.
According to Huang, the Executive Yuan spent NT$1.19 million (US$40,832) producing five video clips and NT$1.75 million broadcasting them.
Before the video was uploaded to YouTube, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Steven Chen (陳士魁) had a chance to watch it, Huang said.
Huang said the video was also shown at a meeting of ministry spokespeople, including himself, on Tuesday before it was uploaded.
Asked how the spokespeople felt about the ad, Huang said: “At first, we did not understand it at all. But at the end, we realized that the purpose of the ad was to make the Economic Power-up Plan a catchy name and convey the idea that the way to boost the economy was to ‘just do it.’”
He added that the Executive Yuan has contacted Google Inc, YouTube’s parent company, to find out why the ad was pulled, but has not yet received a response.
When contacted by the Taipei Times, the corporation’s department of communication said in a written reply that “we are currently analyzing the situation” and will reply to the questions soon.
No further reply was received as of press time.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft