No Body Odor

Seeing is believing. This is a billboard i saw along NLEX

One might notice the shift of the ads today. From sex-inclined, to family values, friendship, existentialism. Yes, finally, we have ads worth watching and seeing. Sometimes, it's even better to see the ads than the very primetime show we follow. The continuous ads that seems to tell the stories. Ads that ends with "to be continued".

Lumen, from Surf, was one of those ads, until it focused on the grandmother. 

Ads used to be too stiff, too sexy, or too farfetched from the very product they were promoting. Now, at the end of the 15-30 seconds worth of air time, some people sigh and dream if the same could happen with them.

Unfortunately, with this shift of focus in the many different ads one can preview in one primetime show, there are still a lot of disappointing ads. This is when actors and actresses, who don't usually sing, carry on a jingle or sing through the entire ad. Some are not even disappointing, some are downright a waste--at least i believe so.

The billboard i saw had warning line--like those in cigarettes stating "Government Warning".

The one above states that having body odor is dangerous to one's life--love life. True, body odor is something we frown about, and definitely turn away from--unless it's our stomachs doing the turning. 

But can anyone blame me if i am suspicious of their actions? What are they trying to change exactly?? Hidden agenda? Perhaps.

Growth

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." --Maya Angelou

Ads are telling you more that you'd think they are. It is not just a product. It is also an idea. I call it a Seed.

Companies plant it and allow it to grow. Rather, they don't just let it grow, they make sure that it grows.

The recent TV commercial ads that we see might have been propagating different ideas. They show different products. They could be food, milk, instant noodles or even different kinds of services. But they have something in common.

As mentioned by Brad Geiser of GeiserMaclang, that would be a PR campaign. It is not trying to sell just the product. It is trying to change an opinion.

In this regard, the commercials today have highlighted the importance of spending time with your family, especially during meals. Lucky Me had the FaMEALy Day. Nido focused on the relationship between parent and child. McDonald's advocate the same idea. The commercials we see on TV are saying something.

I, for one, loved the FaMEALy ad wherein a kid was having dinner by herself as she relayed the events that happened to her that day. These events included her getting a star for a job well done, and man later approaching her with ulterior motives. The young girl acted as if the stranger was as harmless as the teacher. After seeing the commercial for the first time, I was really nervous.

I had goosebumps, which was a rare thing for me. Whoa.

It was so moving that you just want every kid to experience as much happiness as they could without the worry over threats to their lives and any kind of pain. I had the urge to take the girl, shake her to her senses, and hug her till she gets my point. But she was not my kid. I don't have kids.

That was how strong it was for me.

Ads are not usually as strong, at least PR campaigns are not. But being in the field of communication, you get to point these out without the other people knowing. It was a subtle manipulation of their opinions. Filipinos are getting more inclined to family oriented shows and commercials. I guess advertisers realized the need to reformat the thinking of many Filipinos with regards to families and families eating together for lunch.

It was just a seed. It was an idea, and someone believed in it. They believed that we should likewise believe in the importance of being with your family. It is of general interest really, and it was never attacked that way--as far as I know (I'm not all knowing).

Getting to watch ads of similar light gives you the warm and fuzzy feeling. Despite the other problems that bombard the country today, at least the focus of these ads to help maintain the founding group: the family.

Kuno Ad: Chocolate Cupcakes

This is a photo I have taken of my Cupcakes. I call t Kuno Ad. As sweet as it looks like, it also appears amateur-ish. But what can you expect from a baking outburst--aka, sudden need to bake. With my 12 cupcakes and a simple point and shoot cam, I took pictures from different angles as if the cakes were live models who can twist and turn, and smile. I used natural lighting, no flash. I used the basic principles I learned from school. I wanted to share the delight these cakes promised--flatly (image compression, wahahaha).

But this photo could have fooled anyone. I mean, it seems classy enough because it seems like a "saucy" product. The angle, the depth of field effect and the shadow play seemed to make it richer than it actually is.

But isn't that what many ads and commercials do to us? They make us believe that their product is the best there is in their industry and we are as gullible as they make us out to be. Well, that's putting it harshly. But a skeptic would seem to percieve it that way.

Communication seems to be a too profound a word to describe what is going on around us, especially in the market. To non communication majors, ads would just seem to share with them new products and new ideas. Little would they have known that they are already being manipulated to buy the item and to bite the idea.

It would have taken an entire research team to get you to believe the ad, more so just seeing it. They will blast it through websites, the radio, print, and especially the TV. It would have taken loads of budget support, resource materials, graphic design, photographic expertise, marketing skills, sales dividends, and the right attitude to produce one ad--and for the people to believe that ad.

But it could have also taken one me to mimic what they are doing and be as successful. That would be a miracle. But I can gather small crowds, and that is the beginning. Sometimes, the best ads are not all full blast implementation and postage on every wall. Baby steps are often better.

In the business, on the other hand, fast action is always called for. Research is most needed to do not only the fastest job, but also the most efficient. So my photographs MIGHT call someone's attention. But there is no assurance regardless of my academic and practical training from the University. A team's effort would most probably even make my efforts seem futile to say the least.

But they did taste great in the end anyway...that is my opinion against theirs though.