Canadian tourist officials bizarrely used a picture of a beach in Northumberland, England's nothernmost county which borders Scotland, on a website promoting landlocked Alberta.
Beautiful Beadnell Beach was used by Alberta's public affairs bureau in a £14 million advertising campaign.
The picture has a child running along the beach.
But the people who created the website said that they DELIBERATELY used the picture because it "fitted the mood and tone of what we were trying to do."
They obviously never included very ancient buildings such as the mighty Bamburgh Castle in the picture.
Northumberland Tourism, though, are pleased, as they know that the Canadians think that Northumberland is a beautiful place.
Despite being only Canada's sixth largest province, Alberta is two-and-a-half times bigger than Britain and 128 times larger than Northumberland.
Canada promotes landlocked province of Alberta... with picture of a beach in Northumberland
By David Gardner
25th April 2009
Daily Mail
The picturesque coast of Northumberland has long been the envy of visitors from home and abroad.
So attractive in fact, that Canadian tourist officials have used it to attract holidaymakers to their own landlocked province more than 5,000 miles away.
A film of two blond children running along sand dunes on Beadnell beach near Newcastle features in a £14million advertising campaign run by Alberta's public affairs bureau.
Life's a beach ... even in Alberta: The Canadian tourism advert shows the Northumberland shore at Bamburgh
Worlds apart: Beadnell Beach stood in for Alberta
The error was spotted only when a Canadian sailor decided he had to establish which stretch of water was used in the video.
He soon discovered that it was an eight-hour plane flight away on a different continent.
At first, a spokesman for Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper tried to play down the row, claiming: 'There is no attempt to mislead.
'The picture used just fitted the mood and tone of what we were trying to do.'
Spectacular: Bamburgh Castle - conspicuously absent from the Canadian advert
True view: Alberta's Banff National Park looks rather different in reality
But Alberta government officials later owned up to the gaffe, releasing a statement saying: 'We screwed up. We're sorry.'
The statement read: 'In our branding initiative, we put together some very striking images of our beautiful province, and wove them around a narrative that we came to call the Alberta story.
'At one point in the narrative we mentioned our regard for people in other places, and in that place we used the only image that did not come from Alberta.
Intentionally.
'Then we screwed up.
'We took images from the narrative, and used them as standalone still pictures on our website.
'And along the line, we grabbed that one, solitary image that was not from Alberta and added our nifty new 'Alberta' signature.
'We're sorry. The picture has been removed from the cycle of standalone images, however it still lives in the narrative, as you will see in the above link.
'And, Northumberland, you are beautiful, too.'
Bosses at Northumberland Tourism said the slip served only to highlight their region's beauty.
Spokesman Sheelagh Caygill said: 'We think it's quite funny - a landlocked province in Canada presenting an image of itself as an island.
So far away: Alberta is 5,000 miles from Northumberland (click to enlarge)
'But Northumberland Tourism is actually really thrilled that a picture of a beach in our area is being used for the Alberta campaign.
'We see it as promoting the beauty of the north of England, which is often neglected.
'I hope that when people in Alberta realise where the beach is, they'll come to visit.'
ALBERTA VS NORTHUMBERLAND
Capital
Alberta: Edmonton
Northumberland: Morpeth
Area
Alberta: 642,317 sq km
Northumberland: 5,013 sq km
Founding
Alberta: Once once part of British North America and became province in 1905
Northumberland: The region of present-day Northumberland ("Land north of the River Humber") once formed the core of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia, which was later united with Deira south of the River Tes to form Northumbria. Northumberland is often called the "cradle of Christianity" in England, because it was on Lindisfarne, a tidal island north of Bamburgh, also called Holy Island, that Christianity flourished when monks from Iona were sent to convert the English.
Population
Alberta: 3.6 million
Northumberland: 310,600
GDP per capita
Alberta: $74,825
Northumberland: $44,000
Flower
Alberta: Wild Rose
Northumberland: Bloody Cranesbill
dailymail.co.uk
Beautiful Beadnell Beach was used by Alberta's public affairs bureau in a £14 million advertising campaign.
The picture has a child running along the beach.
But the people who created the website said that they DELIBERATELY used the picture because it "fitted the mood and tone of what we were trying to do."
They obviously never included very ancient buildings such as the mighty Bamburgh Castle in the picture.
Northumberland Tourism, though, are pleased, as they know that the Canadians think that Northumberland is a beautiful place.
Despite being only Canada's sixth largest province, Alberta is two-and-a-half times bigger than Britain and 128 times larger than Northumberland.
Canada promotes landlocked province of Alberta... with picture of a beach in Northumberland
By David Gardner
25th April 2009
Daily Mail
The picturesque coast of Northumberland has long been the envy of visitors from home and abroad.
So attractive in fact, that Canadian tourist officials have used it to attract holidaymakers to their own landlocked province more than 5,000 miles away.
A film of two blond children running along sand dunes on Beadnell beach near Newcastle features in a £14million advertising campaign run by Alberta's public affairs bureau.
Life's a beach ... even in Alberta: The Canadian tourism advert shows the Northumberland shore at Bamburgh
Worlds apart: Beadnell Beach stood in for Alberta
The error was spotted only when a Canadian sailor decided he had to establish which stretch of water was used in the video.
He soon discovered that it was an eight-hour plane flight away on a different continent.
At first, a spokesman for Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper tried to play down the row, claiming: 'There is no attempt to mislead.
'The picture used just fitted the mood and tone of what we were trying to do.'
True view: Alberta's Banff National Park looks rather different in reality
But Alberta government officials later owned up to the gaffe, releasing a statement saying: 'We screwed up. We're sorry.'
The statement read: 'In our branding initiative, we put together some very striking images of our beautiful province, and wove them around a narrative that we came to call the Alberta story.
'At one point in the narrative we mentioned our regard for people in other places, and in that place we used the only image that did not come from Alberta.
Intentionally.
'Then we screwed up.
'We took images from the narrative, and used them as standalone still pictures on our website.
'And along the line, we grabbed that one, solitary image that was not from Alberta and added our nifty new 'Alberta' signature.
'We're sorry. The picture has been removed from the cycle of standalone images, however it still lives in the narrative, as you will see in the above link.
'And, Northumberland, you are beautiful, too.'
Bosses at Northumberland Tourism said the slip served only to highlight their region's beauty.
Spokesman Sheelagh Caygill said: 'We think it's quite funny - a landlocked province in Canada presenting an image of itself as an island.
So far away: Alberta is 5,000 miles from Northumberland (click to enlarge)
'But Northumberland Tourism is actually really thrilled that a picture of a beach in our area is being used for the Alberta campaign.
'We see it as promoting the beauty of the north of England, which is often neglected.
'I hope that when people in Alberta realise where the beach is, they'll come to visit.'
ALBERTA VS NORTHUMBERLAND
Capital
Alberta: Edmonton
Northumberland: Morpeth
Area
Alberta: 642,317 sq km
Northumberland: 5,013 sq km
Founding
Alberta: Once once part of British North America and became province in 1905
Northumberland: The region of present-day Northumberland ("Land north of the River Humber") once formed the core of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia, which was later united with Deira south of the River Tes to form Northumbria. Northumberland is often called the "cradle of Christianity" in England, because it was on Lindisfarne, a tidal island north of Bamburgh, also called Holy Island, that Christianity flourished when monks from Iona were sent to convert the English.
Population
Alberta: 3.6 million
Northumberland: 310,600
GDP per capita
Alberta: $74,825
Northumberland: $44,000
Flower
Alberta: Wild Rose
Northumberland: Bloody Cranesbill
dailymail.co.uk
