Our Favorite List of Memorable Philippine Advertisements
By Axcell Centeno
TV commercials and advertisements can make
or break a brand’s penetration into pop culture. So when an ad becomes
eye-catching or heart warming enough to capture the attention of the viewers,
the brand will be remembered for a very long time – not just for the 15- to
30-second moment it had.
Here are some of the ads that made their
mark on the Philippine television:
- “Karen Po”, 2001 (McDonald’s)
Anyone already born in the 90’s and the early 2000’s will never
forget this heart-warming ad. For a fast food chain easily accessible to people
of different age groups, this 30-second ad by Leo Burnett showed the closeness
of Filipino family ties—no wonder people of all ages can relate to this ad!
In the hustle and bustle of
Manila streets comes a beautiful lady with a refreshing voice and with a more
beautiful song to share to the world, and of course, free Coca-Cola bottles for
everyone! This ad features a very young Nikki Gil singing about her wish for a
world full of love and happiness.
This somehow makes us crave for
a bottle of soda. Nikki, you wish for many things. I just wish for a bottle of
Coke right now.
Commercials are breaks between
shows and unfortunately, most people ignore them. But then, what if the
commercials are as enjoyable as the show itself? For instance, the Surf bar
soap can be remembered by their series of ads following the life of Lumen, a
smart and practical housewife, and her family. The story started from Lando
(the husband) and Lumen’s courtship to being married to having kids (they had
twin girls).
Their story is not far from the
typical Filipino family, which made the people relate to their story as if
they’re just catching up with the life of a neighbor.
Another ad series well loved by
Filipinos is Tide Detergent ad featuring BJ Forbes as Tolits. The ad is
remembered because of Tolits’ monologue “Palagi
na lang ako. Sa Math, ako. Sa spelling, ako pa’rin!”
People cannot resist the little
boy’s charm especially in saying those lines. Blame it on your sparkly white
polo, Tolits. It’s always you the teachers see!
This ad tugged the heartstrings
of college kids and parents alike. It features a teenage to early 20’s
Christian Vasquez (talk about throwback!) expressing his desire to shift his
course from Medicine to Fine Arts over the telephone to his father. The father,
who is a doctor, might want to see his son take after his profession but the
beautiful thing in this commercial is that it showed that whatever decision the
son would choose, he will always have his father’s back.
The ad from Publicis Manila is
about a young man named Nicos and his dilemma of having a “Cold Christmas” (because his love interest "Mattina" seems to show no interest in him), or
in his words, becoming a member of “Samahan ng Malalamig ang Pasko”. It
captured the “hugot-hungry” teenagers’ attention with its humoristic
approach about getting jilted through text, but what made it special was that
his mother was always there to listen and ready with a pitcher of iced tea.
The ad, though humorous in
nature, also showed a sweet fact that family will always be there and not even
10 “Matina’s” can replace the love of his mother.
Let’s drink to that, Nicos!
For a scant 30-second airtime,
it gave people a good laugh and a valuable lesson: in giving, never settle
for less. The plot was interesting enough to catch people’s attention. The ad’s
catchphrase also made Fita level up as a household brand. “Para sa iyong kabutihan, isang kahilingan.—SPORTS CAR, YUNG RED!”
anyone who would remember those lines would still be chuckling with the idea
that a fairy rewarded him half of a car in exchange of half of his Fita
biscuit.
This ad became so phenomenal,
kids of different ages have ben doing this beat every recess and break time. It
had even become a contest segment in a noontime show where contestants had to
do the Coke beat flawlessly. Though the ad doesn’t have a structured story of
its own, the Coke Beat Jingle definitely was “LSS worthy” and therefore,
everybody seemed to lose their minds trying to do the actions in their fastest
time possible. Gets mo na? We still
don’t.
This ad is considered classic.
It features a boxing referee accompanied with the iconic jingle “Di lang pam-pamilya, pang sports pa!” A
boxing match shown on television will not be complete without showing this
old-but-gold commercial.
Anyone who has seen this
commercial will be tempted to scream from the top of lungs “I LOVE YOU PIOLO!”
This ad was the ticket to fame of Multimedia Star Toni Gonzaga. 90’s kids
remember this reference from the start of the Piolo-Toni movie “Starting Over
Again” where Toni’s character, Ginny, was screaming, “I love you sir Marco!
(Piolo’s character)”
The ad’s tagline was
“Magpakatotoo ka” where they showed that there is no shame to being a fan girl.
Though this ad may not sell a
product, it was used for the 2009 presidential campaign. It was infamous for
hard selling Manny Villar’s past experience as an impoverished person, and the
jingle was so catchy people have been singing it from time to time.
Even at 2015, when the first few verses are sung it’s hard to resist singing the whole campaign jingle. Yes, Mr. Villar. We already know you have been truly poor in your past but can we please just sleep without hearing “Nakaligo ka na ba sa dagat ng basura?” in our dreams? Please, and thank you.
Photo Credits: palabas.tumblr.com ("Karen Po", "Suportahan Ta Ka", "One Wish", Family Rubbing Alcohol), memorykill.tumblr.com ("Sana"), 88storeyfilms.com ("Coke Beat"), nickastig.me ("Naging Mahirap"), aitenshiproject.com (Coleen Garcia as "Mattina"), YouTube ("Lumen", "Tolits", "Ok")
