From Iceland — Rhode Island Is Not Iceland

Rhode Island Is Not Iceland

Published March 30, 2016

Andie Sophia Fontaine
Photo by
Art Bicnick

A recent promo video touting tourism in Rhode Island was, it turns out, filmed in part in Iceland.

WPRI reports that about 3 seconds of footage from a recent promotional video for the US state of Rhode Island was not only shot in Iceland – it was shot at one of Reykjavík’s most iconic structures, the Harpa Concert Hall.

Betsy Wall, the state’s chief marketing officer, told reporters that the people contracted to make the video, IndieWhip, were specifically told to only shoot footage within Rhode Island itself.

“A mistake was made. Once the mistake was identified, the video was removed,” she told reporters yesterday. “The video is currently being updated at no cost to the Commerce Corporation or the State of Rhode Island. As the campaign rolls out, we expect to make additional improvements and changes to our promotional materials.”

IndieWhip have also owned up to the mistake, and apologised to the entire state of Rhode Island for the “editing mistake”. They added that while the 3 seconds of footage were filmed in Iceland, the person skateboarding in the clip is from Rhode Island.

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