My favorite TV commercials

(Second of two parts)

A lot of us surely are annoyed by those commercials on television because these interrupt our TV viewing pleasure. However, we have to learn to live with these TV ads because they pay for our favorite sitcoms, variety programs and talk shows. Fortunately, there are still a lot of these commercials that are a joy to watch. Here are some of my favorites.

One of the most entertaining commercials currently airing on TV is the one of Ligo Carne Norte. This is the version with two carinderia owners – one owned by Manang and the other by Virgie.

Virgie is young and comely, but her eatery has no other customer, except for this one guy who obviously can’t stand her food, but wants something else from her (you know what I mean). Manang is already way over the hill and hopelessly cranky, but her customers elbow each other to get some service in her carinderia.

Virgie tries all the tricks in the book to entice customers to patronize her place – neon lights, production numbers complete with back-up dancers, etc. – except for one: espionage. She should have sent somebody to spy on Manang to find out the old woman’s secret that comes in a little can: Ligo Carne Norte.

The Ligo Carne Norte TV ad is a great concept. It also conveys one important message to the public: That gimmicks can only do so much and in the end; what really matters is the quality of the product.

Another favorite commercial of mine, which I think is no longer on the air, but which most people would still remember, is the Fita ad – the one where this guy holds his last piece of Fita and this old woman in rags approaches him and he gives half of it to her. All of a sudden, this old woman in rags turns into a Barbie-looking fairy godmother and grants him one wish. "Sports car – ’yung red!" He excitedly tells the fairy godmother. Wish granted. However, since he gave only half of his Fita to the old woman in rags, all he gets is half a sports car – in red.

I salute the people behind this commercial for such a creative storyboard. More importantly, the ad lives by the message it is trying to send to viewers: if you have to give, give your all. If you noticed, the ad doesn’t focus so much on the product – which is Fita. Instead, it tries to point out the message about giving – about giving all you have. Well, easier said than done. If I were the guy, I would have been more practical and done the same – give half of the Fita to the old woman in rags (charity begins at home). I guess that explains why I keep getting half-baked deals in my life.

Amusing is the Astring-O-sol specialist commercial where a prowler breaks into the house of a woman who tries to scream for help, except that no voice comes out because of a sore throat. Luckily, she has Astring-O-sol specialist that she gurgles and this enables her to scream an ear-shattering "Magnanakaaaw!"

But even if the burglar had already been apprehended, she still wouldn’t calm down and this is more than enough punishment for the thief because he has to bear with her screaming until daybreak.

This commercial is cute, funny and effective in bringing the message across that if you have a sore throat, you can always rely on Astring-O-sol specialist.

Very touching is the Absolute TV ad about a little boy who breaks what obviously is a treasured family possession. His mother then hands him a glass of water, which apparently is Absolute. No, the mother doesn’t drown him in it and neither does she smash the glass on his head. (Gosh, what was I thinking?) Instead, she lets him drink it to assure him that for all his faults, he is still loved because as the commercial later tells us, "Love is pure. Love is Absolute."

The commercial truly tugs at the heartstrings. But sorry, I’m still not rushing to the supermarket to get Absolute or any bottled water for that matter because I’m still one of the very few people in Metro Manila who still drink straight from the faucet. A lot of people have warned me about tap water not being safe to drink, but I still do and so far nothing has happened to me yet – knock on wood. Besides, considering the fact that I consume two gallons of water a day just for drinking (and I’m not kidding!), can you imagine how much I’ll be spending on bottled water? I guess practically my entire salary. If the government would only take out the VAT from my earnings, a sizable amount would be left and I can use this to buy safe bottled drinking water. But then, that’s another story.

Not exactly in my list of favorite TV commercials is the one of Circulan, which promises to improve blood circulation. The new Circulan commercial, however, is already an improvement of the first version, which – aside from lacking in gloss – also has sexual undertones (but basically harmless) that may not be suitable to children.

The current Circulan ad actually stresses more on health, which is why it shows neighbors jogging around the village. Unfortunately, the commercial still plays around with the word Ironman – with iron wrongly pronounced ay-ron instead of the correct i’arn. I know this is deliberately done to add humor to the commercial. But I am not amused.

You see, the quality of education is already very poor in the country. And I believe media – being very influential – should only teach what is right and what is good to the public. There is already so much idiocy in this country. Let’s not add anymore to it.