billboards - advertising that kill, literally

WAWAM! had previously complained about billboards on EDSA. these giant ulgies hardly contribute to marketing efforts nor brand building, why bother having them and allow these bollboards when all they do is to uglify EDSA and our city? (http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/billboards)

now, 3 billboards collapsed. good thing nobody got seriously injured and nobody died. these are giant structures, it's easy to imagine that a much larger catostrophe could have occured. these giant structures could become giant and multiple spears that can puncture cars and buses and even spear people on the street. these are located on EDSA, a major thoroughfare, almost always busy the whole day. in fact the collapse occured during the day when EDSA is full of commuters - workers, ordinary folks and school children are out to go to points in the metro.

these billboard suppliers should be held fully responsible for the loss and damages. if someone dies because of these unsafe structures, owners of these companies should be put in jail. shame on the advertising industry!

Remove All Billboards On EDSA!

3 Edsa billboards fall; 5 hurt

By Julie M. Aurelio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:57am (Mla time) 10/14/2008

MANILA, Philippines – Five persons were hurt when a billboard collapsed in the middle of a heavy downpour and fell on the site of a bus terminal at the southbound lane of Edsa, near the Santolan flyover in Quezon City Monday afternoon.

Two more billboards on Edsa also toppled over – one near a car repair shop on the southbound lane and the other in front of the Makro supermarket on the northbound lane – but no injuries were reported, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) enforcers said.

Although none of the billboards fell on Edsa, the incidents led to heavy traffic on the southbound lane, extending all the way to East Avenue from the Santolan flyover.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view_article.php?article_id=166258

new Tang Iced Tea Ad - the need to break more than ice, need to break logic and story flow

tang of kraft foods recently launched a new juice drink, Tang Iced Tea and released an intro tv spot behind it's launch. ogilvy is the ad agency.

tag line : BRAKE THE ICE!

to understand this tv commercial is to break more than ice, you need to break your skull to get to your brains to get it.

they must have thought this is a great commercial - there's dancing, there's dance music and it uses a Dance Revolution type of video game that is very familiar to many, specially the young. everything looks and feels energetic, fun and happy. such a fun commercial won't miss, until you actually listen and pay attention to the copy.

visually, it's a story about a mom trying to keep up with her son on the dance video game. thick ice forms like a wall between mom and son to indicate she was unable to keep up. the son mixes tang iced tea, the son "breaks" the wall of ice with a tang iced tea drink, she drinks and she miraculously was able to keep up with her son.

just looking at the visual story, the first question you ask is --- where does the "breaking the ice" tagline fit in there? it is actually unclear what the answer is to that question. there was a literal thick block of ice that formed between mother and son like a wall that the son broke with tang iced tea, so i suppose that is where the connection is.

given the visual story, it meant tang iced tea is able to break the barrier between mother and son. and this barrier is not the psychological one, but of the physical and agility type between child and mother. the visuals of the commercial show that tang iced tea solves the problem of lack of energy and agility that the son had and the mother did not.

so, tang iced tea gives energy and agility? yes and no.

the visuals say yes but based on the copy, the answer is no. the visuals dramatize the problem and the benefit of energy and agility that tang iced tea solves, but the copy is not saying that at all. copy at the product middle said tang iced tea is a "refreshing blend of tea and fruit flavors and the goodness of nutrition". we can stretch the "nutrition" part to say that that us what gives the energy but that is really over stretching it.

refreshment and energy giving in advertising terms are two very different concepts. refreshment means relief or a cool down after expending energy. energy giving is more an active form of product benefit. one is relief, the other infusion.

the tagline "break the ice" is another mystery in this ad. taglines are supposed to be a brief, eloquent and memorable summary of the product promise or product benefit. from it also comes the brand's core positioning. but that was not how they used the tagline here. the "break the ice" tagline refer only to the literal breaking of the wall of ice by the son when he gave his mom tang iced tea.

here's a summary of this ad : this ad positions tang iced tea on a refreshment and nutrition platform in copy but dramatizes energy and agility in visuals. that is a very clear case of the worst kind of no audio-video lock. they are showing something they are saying.

it uses a tagline that does not summarize the brand's core positioning but refers only to the visual device of breaking the wall of ice that formed between mom and son. the use of the strategic tagline element on a very tactical component makes it weak and confusing.

this looks like a composite of 3 separate storyboards pasted together to form one. it's like they took the best parts form 3 separate storyboards and put them all into one, like a the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. unfortunately, the end product is an ill-fitting jigsaw puzzle. it is a WAWAM!





ps: i found it very disconcerting that the dad and the daughter all of a sudden appeared from nowhere at the second half of the ad. they were not in the scene at the start of the commercial, we can see the sofa at the background at the start of the commercial and it was empty of people. its a very basic directorial treatment error. very amateurish directorial treatment.

oooops........ it's not what you think it is

this is a classic situation where the only thing you can say is - it's not what you think it is.

one of the most revered word in advertising is the word "unexpected". it's a good thing when that word is used to describe an ad. that word is applicable to this ad. i don't think any of us ever imagined a situation like this will be used to sell a sweet-chocolatey product like the mikado.

first of all, targeting adults for this kind of product is a surprise in itself. then, this situation to depict the brand's desirability. if it is adults that they are targeting, then this ad works very well. it's fun. it does not take itself seriously. and after seeing this ad, i don't think we will ever look at mikado the same way again. or even photocopying rooms.

answered : marketing blunder or brilliant marketing - the sarah pailin vp choice

on august 30, 2008, we posted this question on sarah palin - "sarah palin vp choice - brilliant marketing move or biggest blunder?" (read posts here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/US%20presidential%20elections)

since that announcement, the answer to that question had its peaks and valleys --- there were times it showed it was a brilliang marketing move, and yet there were times it looked a big blunder.

with just a few more weeks to go in the elections, it is nearing the point of no return. we think that will be just around the time of the 3rd presidential debate next week. this point of no return will be reached at the latest a day or two after the 3rd debate.

in WAWAM!, we have reached a conclusion and we have the answer to that question we posted - was sarah palin as vp choice a brilliant marketing move or marketing blunder? that is next in WAWAM!

what is this ad selling?

this is one ad that is self explanatory and needs no words.

harry & paul tv show's filipina maid comedy sketch - a racial slur in intent and in actual form

"Harry & Paul is a post-watershed comedy sketch series and as such tackles many situations in a comedic way. Set in this context, the sketch in question is so far beyond the realms of reality as to be absurd _ and in no way is intended to demean or upset any viewer," the company said in a statement.

is it just comedy to the extreme or is it a racial slur?

looking at the BBC "Harry & Paul" comedy skit - what makes it racially insensitive is the fact that they identified the "maid" character in the skit as a Filipina. they could have avoided it without harming the humor, but the show chose not to.

within the context of the sketch, identifying the race or nationality of the maid would have not mattered at all.

the maid character was in a stereo-type maid's uniform, there was no way the audience would have mis-identified the character in the sketch in any other role other than a maid.

given that the maid needed to be called out verbally, since one character was at a distance, they could have called her by any female name or referred to her as "maid". using any female name would have not resulted to any confusion since there were only two characters there - a male and female. and given the maid's uniform the woman was wearing, there is no way the audience will get confused about the plot of the sketch.

or they could have used a caucasian actress in that maid's role and the humor would have still been there. the story is just about this man unresponsive to everything, even to the seductive moves of a female. nationality nor race had nothing to do with that story. nationality or race wasn't what made that sketch funny, it was the situation it portrayed.

not using a caucasian actress and instead the use of an asian actress in that role and calling her out as a Filipina and not by any female name makes it very obvious that the writers did intend to make a statement on race and nationality.

they can argue that because most of the maids in the UK are Filipinas (assuming that is true) and calling out that character as one makes the sketch more realistic. but realism in this one is not at all important nor critical. it is to begin with a comedy show and this particular tv show is known for it's outlandish and extreme humor. the show thrives on unrealism, not realism.

the show being about unrealism and not realism is consistent with the show's statement, above at the start of this discussion.

looking at that official statement - " the sketch in question is so far beyond the realms of reality as to be absurd". if what they say is true, that it is "beyond the realms of reality", why then did they identify the maid with a very real name, "Filipina"? to be consistent with going "far beyond the reals of reality" would have lead them to give that maid a name of something like "R2D7000" or "celestial being".

it is doubly insulting that even their official explanation seeks to fool us and shows their thinking that we can be fooled. there is no question about it, this Harry & Paul's Filipina maid sketch in intent and in actual form makes a racial slur against filipinas.

Brand Filipina : maid and sex slave

posted in the comments section by "hysterical" in the comments section : https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=517458268477828190&postID=6415185393416344825

Philippines slams BBC comedy showing Filipino maid
By OLIVER TEVES
Associated Press 2008-10-08 01:19 AM

The Philippine government protested a popular BBC comedy sketch in which a Filipino maid was told to have sex with a neighbor, officials said Tuesday.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said the Philippine Embassy in London sent letters to the BBC, as well as to the Secretary of State for Women and the Press Complaints Commission, to protest "this slur on our domestic workers" in Britain.

Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo also summoned the British Ambassador Peter Beckingham to discuss the matter, he said.

Rep. Risa Hontiveros, a women's rights activists, demanded an apology from the broadcaster. She described the Sept. 26 episode of the TV show "Harry and Paul," starring British comedians Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, as "revolting and disgusting" and called it an "insensitive and racist attempt to satirize a scene of exploitation."

Tiger Aspect Productions, which produces "Harry and Paul," noted that the show airs at night, when more mature content is allowed.

"Harry & Paul is a post-watershed comedy sketch series and as such tackles many situations in a comedic way. Set in this context, the sketch in question is so far beyond the realms of reality as to be absurd _ and in no way is intended to demean or upset any viewer," the company said in a statement.

The BBC did not comment immediately but the British Embassy in Manila issued a statement saying the BBC has editorial independence and the views expressed and portrayed by the network "are completely independent" from the government.

It said Filipinos in Britain "are an important part of British society, making invaluable contributions to our scientific and service sectors, and enriching U.K. culture."

The plight of millions of Filipinos working overseas is a sensitive issue for the Philippines, whose economy is kept afloat by billions of dollars in remittances they send home.

Last year, a scene in the ABC television series "Desperate Housewives" that used Philippine medical education as a punch line prompted angry calls from viewers, an online petition demanding an apology and criticism from Philippine officials.

In the latest outrage, Filipinos in Britain posted an online petition to "re-educate the BBC and the television broadcasting industry about responsible and culturally sensitive broadcasting."

we have known that for many years now - that Brand Filipina is equivalent to being the "maid" to the rest of the world. this started many years ago in hong kong, where i would say 70% to 80% of hong kong residents have filipina maids. they are so many there that on sundays, a whole park at central will be filled with filipina maids on their day-off. they close that road on that day to accomodate the large number of filipina maids.

with hong kong almost saturated, the filipina maid spilled over to other rich countries and in recent years they went to europe. many filipina maids are working in italy and britain.

is it any wonder that this "Harry And Paul" tv show has declared on british national tv what we know - Brand Filipina is a maid. this one goes further, also as a sex slave.

english 101 - if you don't get it, it might bite you in the ass!

first, i thought this ad does not need any introduction or explanation. but life can't be that simple.

please view the ad first, then scroll down for my comments on this ad.
















if you are reading this, that means you understand english. and let me take a guess - at the start of the ad, your mouth was open in wonder, even scratched your head. with those lyrics, why were the characters in the ad enjoying the song? then at the end of the ad, when you saw the supers, you laughed!

then you scrolled down and you are here now. and you still have a smile from viewing that ad.

here's the problem of that ad ---- you found it funny and entertaining because you understand english! this ad was aired in germany and the target audience of the ad is actually people who do not speak and understand english. to someone who does not understand english, the lyrics of the song, "i wanna fuck you in the ass" DOES NOT MEAN A THING! and because those words don't mean a thing, then the humor and the punchline in the end is totally lost on the target audeince!

the only way this ad will work is if the non-english speaking target audience is watching this ad with someone who does speak english and translates the lyrics of the song into german. or if the non-english speaking target audience understand a little bit of english and happen to know the meaning of the lyrics.

it is funny, but it is a WAWAM! actually it is also has ADS Sindrome.

unwanted pregnancy for pinays : "nagpagamit na lang ako sa asawa ko! bubugbugin niya ako pag hindi ako pumayag."

"nagpagamit na lang ako sa asawa ko. bubugbugin nya ko kapag hindi ako pumayag." (i allowed my husband to use me. he will beat me up if
i don't allow him.)

there are probably two things that shocked you when you read the title of this discussion. it is not meant to be theatrical just to get attention, it is only to tell the truth. truth number one - among the filipino poor, yes, they do use exactly that word "magpagamit" (to have yourself used) to mean to have intercourse with a partner. it is a common term among them. not only that, even social workers use that term to mean sex.

the term does not shock them. nor do i think they know the implication of the use of that kind of a word to refer to sex. but that is the truth.

truth number two - yes, that happens often - women, mostly married women agree to unprotected sex with their partners because if they don't, their partners will beat them up.

that is based on consumer research. many women have told that story as to why they have had unwanted pregnancies. their partners or husbands come home drunk. and when the men are drunk, they most often want to have sex with them. often, the women do not have or do not use contraceptive devices. they know they are not safe but they have no choice but to agree to unprotected sex with their partners or husbands because if they refuse them, their drunk husband will beat them up. that is one of the reasons why there is a high incidence of unwanted pregnancies in the country.

keep that in mind when you view this commercial. that in many ways gives a real scenario behind the ad.



tv ad has english back translation

top 10 marketing lessons learned from the ateneo bonfire incident : part 1 - background

a recap of the event:

a man, allegedly an ateneo alumni wrote the names of old and new la salle basketball players on wood, including an arrow design. this man brought the wood, and there were a lot of them, to the bonfire celebration and put the wood onto the pile of wood that the ateneo staff had put there which we assume to be during the morning of the bonfire. the wood the ateneo staff put there did not have any markings on them. the bonfire was lit, including the wood with the names of basketball players of la salle.

someone took pictures of the wood with the names of the la salle players, including one picture showing the man setting the wood with the names on the pile. these pictures were posted on the internet. the pictures elicited reactions and comments, negative, positive and indifferent from various forums, specially those internet communities inhabited by la salle, ateneo and other UAAP students and school communities. those pictures and what they meant was the singular topic of discussions among these internet communities.

so far this incident and the resulting outrage and reactions on the event have not migrated to traditional mass media. (except for one, printed today at the PDI, link to the article below, at bottom of this post.) it is largely contained within the internet world and among these specific internet communities.

the bonfire celebration was held on the quadrangle of the field of grass between the college admin and belarmine buildings. it did not rain the whole day, until around late afternoon when it rained heavily for almost an hour. that turned the field into a muddy mess and will get your shoes soaked in mud 1 inch to 2 inches high from your heels, depending on where you walk on that open field.

the bonfire has been set in the middle of the field, with metal barricades around it to prevent people from going to the wood pile. there were no lights or flood lights that lit the bonfire area. the whole place was actually very poorly lit with lights concentrated on the stage, set quite a distance from the bonfire and lights on the food and drink stalls that were located at the edges of the grounds, closest to the roads and quite a distance from the bonfire. a large part of the field had no lights at all.

walking to the bonfire is quite difficult - too muddy, too dark and very slippery. but based on the pictures, a few seemed to have made it there. but that means not a lot have seen the bonfire itself and specifically the pile of wood for the bonfire. most of the people who attended the bonfire, maybe 10,000 to 15,000 in all were spread across the vast field and adjoining streets and buildings. people were facing the stage so at most, maybe a few hundred stood around the bonfire.

but since the bonfire was not at all lit and very dark, you really can't see much of the wood that's on the pile. the only way you can see if there are things written on the wood would be if you took a picture of the pile and your flash lit the wood. you can of course read anything written on them if you happen to be looking at the pile while the flashes of cameras of other people lit them.

in other words, among the 10,000 to 15,000 people who attended the bonfire that night, perhaps as few as 300 knew there were names written on the wood. a significantly high number of people who went to the bonfire and most specially most of the la sallites and la salle community members would have not known about the names had they not seen the pictures posted in the internet.


so far, so good? reactions? additions? subtractions? please let us know.

------

just got this now, 1 article in PDI online, read here : http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/you/2bu/view/20081003-164461/Stoking-the-fire


next in WAWAM! : top 10 marketing lessons from the ateneo bonfire event

view other posts in WAWAM! on this topic here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/brand%20ateneo

dilbert on marketing

the ateneo bonfire event - is there a marketing lesson behind it?

pictures of the names of la salle players written on wood burning at that ateneo bonfire celebration - we love the pictures! we hate the pictures! we don't frigin care! those are exactly the words consumers say about what we do in marketing and advertising. (well, ok, they are not exactly what they say, but it's pretty close.)

from this whole event there are actually marketing lessons to be learned. since this is a marketing and advertising blog, i need to work hard now to get this blog to it's original calling using that topic.

the marketing lessons behind the bonfire event, actually in front of the bonfire event - that is next in WAWAM!








ps : i was originally tempted to call it the "ateneo bonfire scandal" but decided against it. i really think there's nothing to it. besides, no sex is involved. there is violence, the mental and emotional kinds, but that does not qualify as a "scandal" as we pinoys call it.



view other posts in WAWAM! on this topic here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/brand%20ateneo

WAWAM! reached 1,000+ views yesterday, october 2, 2008

WAWAM! reached a milestone yesterday -- this blog took in 1,043 visits yesterday, october 2, 2008, the highest recorded number of visits per day in it's short history. 1,000 visits is an amazing number.

that's largely due to the ateneo-la salle discussions in this blog. thanks to antenna who started the topic and all the visitors who came to this blog to read and post their comments on this amazing rivalry.

san miguel beer's jet li tv spot --- leaving too much to the imagination

we use celebrities in commercials for a specific reason. the most obvious one and that is generic to all of them is that they are very popular. but beyond generic popularity (popularity is synonymous to celebrity, right?), they have this specific calling. they are known for something specific.

time for the name association game. when you mention the name jet li - what's the first word that comes to mind? that word will most likely be something that describes the picture on the right. there are no other words you can think of, other than those that match that picture.

but those words, i failed to see in this san miguel beer tv spot. well, ok parts of it are in the commercial, but it does not impress you as perhaps that picture does. or the movies that we have all seen jet li to have appeared in.

jet li scenes are typically breathtaking and awesome. in many of these movie scenes, often five words come to mind : "how did he do that?".

in this san miguel tv spot, we know he is jet li but after seeing the moves, we entertain doubts if that was really jet li. these are the words that come to mind - it is so lame, it can't be jet li.

this commercial fails to impress us. and i think a lot of it comes from two parts - the story of the ad and a much bigger part from the directorial treatment of the ad. not enough effects, lack of imagination and no pizazz.

if you have jet li as your talent, you need, in fact it's a must that you hire a director who does martial arts movies. plus you need to hire production staff and perhaps even shoot in hongkong where many of them are based. i don't know if san miguel did that for this commercial. if they did, it does not show. if they did not, it's a critical error.

and maybe you will not want to have too much of a simple story to tell. simple stories are good for commercials, but not in this case as it does not allow jet li to show what he can do.

and did i mention manny pacquaio already? the reason i have not mentioned the pacman is because in this ad, he is hardly mentioned, meaning shown.

that's the other part i don't get. why didn't they make an ad where the story revolves around jet li and manny pacquiao? why did they choose to make manny a prop, like an extra in this tv spot? all that many did was smile and nothing more.

think about it -- a world famous boxer and a world famous martial artist. that's a great story right there. pregnant with possibilities. and yes --- wham, bang and atomic!

because this san miguel beer ad underperforms, it is a WAWAM!

zazoo condoms - what in the world is this?

i totally do not get this tv commercial.

it is actually an ad for a condom brand, zazoo. to encourage purchase of their brand, this ad demonstrates the ill effects of not using a condom - having children! granted that the behavior of the child in this ad is something every parent do not want to happen, i don't understand how it's intended target market will feel encouraged to buy zazoo.

there simply is too much negativity in this ad that i think zazoo lost every amount of goodwill it has among its target audience. it does not build any affinity or sympathy for the brand. this ad is not for anything positive, it is for everything negative. simply put, it's an anti-child tv ad, not even a pro-condom ad.

this ad gives reproductive health a bad name. condoms are for responsible parenthood, responsible sexuality, respect and control of your own body and protection from STD. it is never anti-children.

a clear WAWAM!