Ten years ago the Sky TV series Ibiza Uncovered created the impression that the whole island was filled with obnoxious, drunken, mooning, British teenagers. Ever since there have been attempts to change Ibiza's image. It's been an uphill struggle.
"It'll be like Ibiza," is standard shorthand for British town councillors opposing licence extensions. Everybody knows what they mean. I'm no longer shocked by the ignorance. I thought my friends and relatives weren't naive enough to believe everything they see on television or read in the papers. But when they've come to visit me they've been genuinely surprised to find how beautiful, peaceful and unspoilt most of Ibiza is.
So what's needed is a slogan which captures the idea that the general perception of Ibiza is wrong. And that's what Sta Eulalia's soon-to-open five star hotel and spa Aguas de Ibiza has tried to do. So visitors to its website are greeted with the immortal words: "Think Ibiza, Think Again."
Inside the site it gets even worse. "You can check in any time you want, but you can never leave," makes it sound as if hotel guests are going to be held captive. (It doesn't help if you know that Hotel California is actually about cocaine addiction.)
On one level this is just another "ah well, that's Ibiza" type story. But five-star hotels only survive on immaculate service and attention to detail. If they can't even be bothered to get a native English-speaker to look over their marketing materials it doesn't bode well. I'm now expecting Fawlty Towers, but I hope I'm surprised. (Although if they want to employ me as a copywriter I'll change my mind I'm sure!)
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I know that I perhaps should not mention this (in spite of your German readers)- But that hotel byline smacks of "Arbeit Macht Frie" to me... a little scary and perhaps a clue who the non native English speaker may have been?
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