This gem popped up in our social media feed yesterday, courtesy of one humorous individual. It is a billboard that’s been displayed in London Underground stations, and it advertises cheap travel to France’s northern coast. But it’s clearly an image of Llandudno beach in Cape Town.

Former Llandudno local, Bradford Bird, who now works in London as a photographer, spotted what looked like something he had seen before:

There was something uncannily familiar about it, and then I noticed the rocks in the background.

The billboard poster had been produced for the French tourism authority, Atout France.

Then he posted the image to his Facebook page, and asked the kind people:

Anything wrong with this ad??

Bird continued that the billboards offering cheap fares to France were “all over the London Tube. It’s damn cheeky of them.”

The campaign has obviously left the UK agency responsible for the error hugely embarrassed.

Steve Turton, Managing Director of UK-based The Line Agency, claimed the agency had gone through more than 3 000 stock images fitting the search tag of “northern France”, until they found an image that fitted their copy.

Said Turton:

It’s a genuine, absolute mistake. I don’t know why the people in Brittany did not say ‘that’s not Brittany’. The French are jumping up and down screaming at me, this has taken ten years off my life. We assured them [the British Advertising Standards Authority] that we will be replacing the pictures. They are perfectly happy with this action as a resolution to the problem. They have not received any complaints from the public themselves. If they do so they will pass on our assurances.

This also wasn’t the only error: another image taken on Llandudno beach advertising the French Mediterranean coast is still enjoying its vibe on the French tourism website, HERE.

Thanks, Dylan M

[Sources: BradfordBird, WestCapeNews]