"Imagine a place that feels like home, but holds enough uniqueness that you are never bored," a narrator says just before the Icelandic skateboard image appears.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Iceland?

A video celebrating the uniqueness of the Ocean State and Governor Raimondo's long-awaited state tourism marketing campaign featured harborfront scenery from the Icelandic capital Reykjavik edited between familiar scenes of Providence, Newport and Narragansett Bay, state officials acknowledged Tuesday.

The video, posted on Raimondo's social media accounts and a Rhode Island Commerce Corporation website, was taken down after Rhode Islanders who had recently visited the Nordic nation began noting the uncanny resemblance.

Described as an "honest mistake" by state tourism officials, the Iceland video fueled skepticism of Raimondo's $5-million state marketing push, which was already facing questions about a new state logo and slogan "Cooler and Warmer."

“As the Commerce Corporation put this presentation video together, explicit instructions were given to the local firm that helped with editing to use only Rhode Island footage," said Betsy Wall, the Commerce Corporation's chief marketing officer in an email. "A mistake was made."

That firm was IndieWhip, a Providence advertising agency hired to assemble footage from the state's regional tourism offices, which decided to fill in a gap between traditional Rhode Island scenes with Reykjavik skateboarding footage.

The nearly two-minute-long video opened with an aerial shot of Conimicut lighthouse, followed by pigeons in flight and the Union Station building in Providence when, at the 10-second mark, a skateboarder performs a trick on a wooden dock in front of a glass building later identified as Reykjavik's Harpa concert hall.

"Imagine a place that feels like home, but holds enough uniqueness that you are never bored," a narrator says just before the skateboarder appears.

In an email statement IndieWhip management apologized and said the video is being "updated, with a new version to go live soon ensuring all shots are located in the state."

"The footage in question is of a Rhode Island skateboarder, filmed by a Rhode Islander," the IndieWhip statement said. "No costs will be incurred by the state to correct the video."

Commerce spokeswoman Jennifer Howard said the $20,000 contract with IndieWhip will be completed once the tourism video is fixed. The agency has not hired the firm for any additional work.

Along with the video problems, Rhode Island Public Radio reported that the visitrhodeisland.com tourism website included references to chefs who had moved out of Rhode Island or died, prompting state Republican Party Chairman Brandon Bell to call the tourism campaign "another embarrassment."

Although it is difficult to say who identified the Iceland image first, Providence designer Greg Nemes, who visited Reykjavik last year, was at least one of the first to post it to Facebook and Twitter.

Asked for his thoughts on the new Rhode Island logo unveiled Monday, Nemes, 30, who started Work-Shop design studio, said he wanted to see how it is used before writing it off.

"On its own it is a little weird and not very dynamic or powerful, but it is being looked at in a vacuum," Nemes said. "What does it look like on a bus, or the MBTA? What does it look like in magazines?"

panderson@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7384

On Twitter: @PatrickAnderso_