The You Tube film rebutting claims made about Amsterdam by US tv presenter Bill O’Reilly was not made by worried locals but the city’s tourist board, the Parool reported on Thursday.

This summer Fox tv broadcast a discussion about the Dutch capital, describing it as cesspit of corruption and crime.
Two young Amsterdammers apparently launched their own film rebuttal of the show, using real statistics to show that the Amsterdam record on drugs and crime is far better than the American one. The film The truth about Amsterdam was viewed some 400,000 times on You Tube.
After O’Reilly responded on air, the film maker ‘Roberwter’ produced a second film, this time using quotes from American tourists in the capital.
But now it emerges the films are the work of the city’s tourist board ACTB. ‘We decided not to publicise our involvement to keep people’s sympathy and generate natural reactions,’ the ACTB was quoted as saying in the Parool.
But Ralph Wisbrun, chairman of the Dutch advertising association VEA says the deception is misplaced. ‘What is the matter with a tourist board defending itself?’ he said in the Parool. ‘I do not like the fact I have been misled.’
The orginal ACTB film has been nominated for a city marketing award.