Thursday, March 22, 2007

The Attack of Campaign Ads



Several weeks from now the unsinkable Filipinos will be casting their votes. But if most of the national candidates still have cash to spend...then we all have to suffer from the a barrage of campaign ads.

Since I have no time to watch television due to Hell Week, I had to contend myself with You Tube.

Here are the slew of commercials that were uploaded.

Enjoy. Or suffer.

Team Unity
Martin? Are you reading this post? Don't worry I won't say that Prospero Pichay is arrogant. Maybe in another blog post. But you have to hand it to his pork barrel er personal wealth. The guy has a music video

Taking a cue from his wife, Ralph Recto's ad is filled with rejected dancers from the show Vilma in Person.

If there's a rough and gruff award given out to candidates, Vic Magsaysay would win hands down. Here's why. I said rough and gruff. I did not say smuggler. Who said that?

Kapag bad ka! Lagot ka! Make way for the oldest dragon - I mean - people's dragon. I can't find a link to his ad though.

You know that you have a really big image problem if an icon gets the lion share of your political ad.

It must be gut feeling but the first time I saw this ad I felt that it was some cheesy campaign propaganda. I was right on the money. But I never thought that it was that lame. Sotto. Tito ko sa Senado. What the hell is that?

Nobody uploaded the ad of Tessie Oreta. Sad.

No ad yet for Cesar Montano. There must be a grain of truth to fund favoritism within Team Unity.

There's a new Zubiri commercial but it was the expensive Boom Tarat that had people abuzz. Was it really that expensive? But it is not helping him. If a media-barred Trillanes is more popular than you then you better think twice. Plus...idol ng Kabataan? I have to warn you of the thousands of Team Chiz memebers.

The only video that responded to the query 'Jamalul Kiram' is the infamous Sultan-of-Brunei-blooper of Igorota - I mean Gloria.

He was one of the early predators of television with his Ang Gara ng Buhay ad. Now he asked the endorsement of singing superstar Sarah Geronimo to push his spiraling survey rankings to the top.

Genuine Opposition
Honestly, the ads of Chiz Escudero would appeal to the youth but not generally to the masses. I found the first (of a series) quite ironic. He goes by the tag Boses ng Senado yet he did not speak a single word. The second one is more appropriate - he talked about the importance of having dreams and aspiration. Tuparin kaya ni Pichay ang mga pangarap ni Chiz?

The Pateros-Taguig representative is quite lucky to have a director for a brother. The only candidate endorsed by the First Gentleman. Live-action interspersed with animation - quite new. But my beef with this one is the song - Francis Magalona? Come on. Plus what's with the boxing gloves?

She started her political journey with Loren Loren Sinta. The leader of the survey pack is making a comeback with this ad. Her white blouse though reminds me of her Ariel detergent powder commercials.

Lacson maintains that he would not use celebrities to endorse his candidacy. He has been consistent ever since despite having an actress for a daughter-in-law. I can't find a video of him though. Trivia: the campaign jingle was inspired by the campaign song of Bill Clinton - Don't Stop Thinking about Tomorrow. No uploaded video though.

There are some things Manny can't buy. Like terpsichorean ability. Villar could use some dancing lessons.

Nene Pimentel got Kris Aquino's endorsement during the last few days of the campaign. He surged ahead from the brink of defeat and from the claws of dagdag-bawas. This time the real life telenovela celebrity will do anything (with or without Hope) to make his brother win.

Tatak Osmena or Latak ng Osmena? You decide.

Sonia Roco explained that her ad was inspired the music video of Natalie Cole where she eerily sang with his dead father Nat. It's a decent ad but I remember that her husband had well-crafted commercials the last time he ran? Contact them again Mrs Roco. I'm not a big fan but I'd rather have you in the senate than Ralph Recto.

The other heartthrob of the Opposition (there are three including Adel Tamano) is sadly in jail. But his strong showing in surveys as well as the fact that he's jockeying positions against big spenders like Pichay and Zubiri shows that Trillanes has a chance. Yup. The guy has an ad and it stings like wild bee. Here's another one. Rebel with a cause that looks much better than James Dean!

I did not find any video of Koko Pimentel. But I saw it one time. Decent but you should start stepping out of your father's shadow.

Does Nikki Coseteng have a campaign ad? Honestly, I've not seen anything. Her posters are good quality though. Come to think of it she used less make-up than Miguel Zubiri in her posters.

How about the only independent but wife-dependent candidate Francis Pangilinan? In the spirit of fairness, here's his Mountain Dew inspired campaign ad.

14 comments:

mschumey07 said...

Hi Jowana,

Sad to say that I cannot as of yet, divulge my identity. Right after taking Rizal another your Dad, I dropped out of sight to fight the dictatorship of Marcos.

I am actively campaigning for the opposition. Its a political statement as you know. We are pushing the youth to actively participate this coming elections. Thanks for supporting Chiz.

mschumey07 said...

Wait till you see Oreta's latest ad, you'll definitely say that she and GMA are one and the same

The Purple Phoenix said...

^ Ok sir, I understand!

I saw the ad the other day...pareho siguro ng scriptwriter sina PGMA at Oreta!

Si Lupita Kashiwahara kaya ang director?

mschumey07 said...

I bet she is. Poor Ninoy, he gave up his life so his siblings can destroy his legacy.

The Purple Phoenix said...

^ talk about gratitude.

martin said...

Hey, saw the music video just now - my comment? Could have been done better I would say. Don't see anything really wrong with it though, I mean it's a campaign for crying out loud, if the guy thinks a music video would help why not? I would still characterize his ads as WAY BETTER than the PIMENTEL ad, you can also find that in Youtube, just search for pimentel koko. His ad is TOTALLY misleading! I don't even know if that was him in the ad. It talks about the name PIMENTEL, does not talk about KOKO.
At least PICHAY is brave enough to face the music, pun not intended, and introduce himself in the ad. PIMENTEL hides behind his father and the name PIMENTEL. I think that is a mockery of the electoral process! And don't get me wrong, I also have the same gripe against Magsaysay, I think his ads are also quite misleading. If you can't stand on your own two feet, you don't deserve to be in the Senate, PERIOD!

In your other blogs you mentioned about candidates with celebrity wives, well don't forget those with celebrity sisters too. It's just as shameful.

As for your heartthrob, Trillanes, it is a real shame that someone like him is allowed to run. And even more shameful for the mainstream opposition to keep him in its ticket. The guy does not believe in democracy for crying out loud, he believes in the barrel of the gun! He believes in holding the country hostage, the economy hostage through the barrel of a gun. I can't repeat it enough that the guy's politics includes the possibility of a coup d etat.

Now if you're truly angry at bad politics - I offer to you PIMENTEL and Trillanes as among them.

The Purple Phoenix said...

Trillanes is not a convict. He can run. If he does not believe in democracy then why is he joining a democratic process called elections?

Okay. I forgot about Kris. Celebrity sister. There.

As for Pichay :)

martin said...

Yup, he can technically run of course and YES we are in a democracy and have to accept the good and the bad of it, such as the fact that people who may not believe in it can also run for elective positions. I guess you condone the idea that a person can participate in both the ballot or electoral process and wield a rifle at the same time, just because it is legal. To me there's just something antithetical about it, I just hope that I'm not the only one who thinks this way in this country or we're forever doomed by recurring attempts of military adventurism, leftist insurgencies, and armed struggles of various kinds.

martin said...

Just want to clarify that I don't mind if someone who's got a celebrity sister or celebrity wife to run. Just don't like the celebrity relations to figure too prominently in their campaigns, that their reason for winning could be attributed to their celebrity relations. Actually, anyone whose win is attributable to someone else does not deserve to win as far as I'm concerned. Whether it is attributable to a celebrity wife, sister, endorser or even to a politician father. As I said, if you can't stand on your own two feet to get elected then you don't deserve to get elected. I'm adding the politician relations because it is just as bad, if not worse. Besides we should not be prejudiced against celebrities ;)

The Purple Phoenix said...

^ I am not prejudging them. And we finally agree on something - dislike for 'celebrity relations to figure too prominently'

Regarding this:
'recurring attempts of military adventurism, leftist insurgencies, and armed struggles of various kinds'

Don't you think that if the government (historically and generally) could not stop this...the problems lies not with the military or the insurgents but with our society?

martin said...

Yes there is something wrong with our society when we vote in people who wage war with the government when convenient, when they believe they can win, and then run for public office via an election when the former tactic failed. In this country all a person need do is to be audacious in his attempt to seize power, be dapper in his uniform, be reasonably handsome and appealing on TV but be sufficiently menacing as well, be articulate in his command of both Pilipino and English in front of the cameras, and raise the ugly head of corruption and inequity and you've got yourself a possible candidate for national office. Everything is justified for as long as it is done against corruption and inequity in this country. Yes, I believe that to be a problem - agreed.

The Purple Phoenix said...

Because that's what most people experience in our country petty and large-scale corruption as well as eternal and obscene inequity.

martin said...

Admittedly we do experience the same but the bearing of arms does not do away with it. It does not provide a solution to our problems, in the same way that more EDSA revolts does not provide for a real solution. In fact, it creates bigger problems when society accepts the barrel of the gun as a solution to problems such as corruption and inequity, because adventurous groups will use the same whenever convenient.

Voters must be mature enough to vote for persons who believe in the ballot, and only by the ballot. No candidate must be allowed to brandish a rifle on one hand and the ballot on the other, that makes democracy one of convenience.

The Purple Phoenix said...

Sometimes it's hard to believe in the ballot after we heard THE phone conversation with Garci.

Did you read the Time article regarding elections - that it is not the best and not the only measure of democracy? It's a good read.

I'm not considering a bloody revolution but sometimes reform is not the best solution. Even Rizal said that if his reformation idea does not triumph, he'll consider revolution.

And I don't think Trillanes is stupid enough to stage another coup if he wins a seat. Plus Esperon will definitely make sure that he would not get his hands on a rifle.