Shipping competitor enters the picture

WEARING COMPETITOR’S SHIRT. Two senior editors saw a “picture that paints a thousand words.” Last Thursday a picture of a survivor of the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars owned by Sulpicio Lines landed on the front page of this paper.

What was striking was that the survivor was wearing a T-shirt of another shipping line that is a competitor of Sulpicio Lines. One senior editor saw on television two survivors wearing T-shirts with the name of the same shipping line emblazoned on their shirts. A mediaman commented, “Tinuyo ba kaha to? Basin gitagaan sila’g T-shirt sa kompetinsiya?”

FREE PUBLICITY. It was seen as an indirect jab at the shipping line where the survivors suffered a traumatic ordeal.  It could not be determined whether the act of wearing the shirt was done on purpose or was merely coincidental.

But the other shipping line whose name was clearly seen on the survivors’ shirts, had a front row seat in riding the wave of publicity suffered by Sulpicio Lines. The competitor got free publicity, but of the good kind. A section editor who saw the picture said, “Nice move sa competitor. Gipakita nila nga naay mas maayo nga shipping line kay sa pikas.”