‘Which ones from the 2022 campaign season will make
its mark on the electorate?’
LAST week, we talked about expecting Christmas messages in the form of TV commercials (TVC) from candidates running for national positions. Since voters will be electing a full list of officials (local, party-list, Congress, Senate, Vice President and President) this coming May, that short run will be followed by harder political ads come January; more pointed in the sense that TVCs will stop short of asking the audience to vote for the candidate in question.
While digital media has been steadily rising in influence when it comes to national campaigns, the lion’s share of a candidate’s budget is still allotted for a decent air war.
Campaigns place much value into creating good ads. Apart from the huge expense, campaigns generally like to make sure that it gets maximum mileage from its TVCs. A good, hardworking ad is a gem, and can spell the difference between victory and defeat for a candidate. But producing a gem isn’t a walk in the park, as creative teams with political experience will tell you: your “client” is actually an entire barangay, with the candidate, their spouse, campaign manager, political advisers, etc. It’s a riot to get an ad out the gate, with multiple levels of approval needed.
With this in mind, here’s a list of memorable ads that we’ve seen through the years:
1. Joker Arroyo’s “Kung bad ka, lagot ka” TVC. The late Senator’s TVC in the 2007 senatorial race was the epitome of simplicity: done in black and white, with the South Park-esque avatar. It projected Arroyo as the one who will make the bad guys pay, and landed him in the eighth spot on election day. It continued the look and feel of Arroyo’s TVCs from the 2001 campaign: stark, simple, straight to the point. (It also helped the 2001 set was narrated by none other than Joonie Gamboa.)
2. Noynoy Aquino’s “Lagot siya sa nanay niya” TVC. His first run for a national position (2007 senatorial) leveraged heavily on the more known members of his family, as expected. The strategy was working okay but it wasn’t enough to make him land in the Top 12 in the surveys. In fact, he ranked at the 14th spot in the January 2007 survey of Pulse Asia, just before the start of the official campaign period. A month later, after the ad came out, Aquino was up six spots to No. 8, and ended up placing sixth in the race. The playful banter between mother and son must’ve struck a chord with Filipino voters, and probably reminded them of their relationship with their own mothers; it also gave that explicit guarantee that his mother will whack him on the head if he does something wrong.
3. Koko Pimentel’s “Zombie Vote.” In 2012, Sen. Koko Pimentel released a political advocacy ad (as TVCs are called when aired outside of the official campaign period) showing a zombie being allowed to register despite well, being a zombie. Quite novel and funny, it urged viewers to register for the 2013 elections to ward off election-related cheating, and here Pimentel draws from his experience in the 2007 senatorial race. He placed 13th but was eventually proclaimed as the rightful winner by the Senate Electoral Tribunal.
4. Manny Villar’s “Sipag at Tiyaga” series. While Villar eventually placed third in the presidential polls, his high numbers in the months leading up to the elections were a result of his strategic advertising plan. Who can forget the earworm that was “Dagat ng Basura?”
(Fun fact: the real title of the jingle is “Naging Mahirap.) I was already working for the Noynoy Aquino campaign when this juggernaut of a jingle came out, and I can tell you that I still sing it from memory until now. It was catchy, singable, and very inspiring; it carried Villar’s campaign until its collapse just two months before the elections.
5. Mar Roxas’ “Mr. Palengke.” Roxas placing No. 1 in the race and garnering the highest percentage of votes (57.81%) was buoyed by his “Mr. Palengke” TVCs, anchored on the popular Parokya ni Edgar hit. Catchy, upbeat, and extremely LSS material, it showed Roxas in a role that voters already associated with him due to his stint as DTI Secretary. The recall of Mr. Palengke is so strong that until this day, Roxas is still called “Mr. Palengke” when people see him in person.
6. Leila de Lima’s “Yan ang Hustisya.” Who could forget Sen. Leila de Lima’s Great Gatsby inspired black and white masterpiece? In a season full of colorful and upbeat jingles, De Lima’s ad made waves for the unique creative concept, and stood head and shoulders above even the ads of some presidentiables. It was also widely authentic and built on De Lima’s image as a no-nonsense Justice Secretary. It secured her the last spot in the Magic 12, after consistently polling high during the campaign period.
There you have it dear millennials and fillennials, an initial list of memorable ads from campaigns past. Which ones from the 2022 campaign season will make its mark on the electorate?
