Kinabuhi: En Route Dumaguete

I miss Dumaguete City, the city for the transient. People, undergraduate students in particular, consider the City of Gentle People their temporary homes, their magical abode where their dreams start and eventually flourish. And through the years, countless faces have come and left this city to begin a more demanding life outside this magical place.

But there is something about Dumaguete that enchants the temporary settlers to go back and reminisce the stories shared with the tides crushing against Rizal Boulevard. It is as if the city holds an unknown charm, a secret potion that captivates, that lures us into visiting her once in a scheduled vacation leave.

One of the memorable experiences during my stint as a temporary settler is the required ferry rides from my local Dipolog City en route Dumaguete. The four-hour ferry ride is a journey made of conversations and visual feast. The hours are spent enjoying the immaculate sunset, the surprise visit from the engaging dolphins, and the warm talks from fellow students and chums.

And from afar, a passenger watches in glee as a huge strip of light begins to visualize as the ferry approaches Dumaguete. The strip is from the lamps illuminating the Rizal Boulevard.

Ayos. Hapit na ta mudunggo. (Nice. We are about to dock.)

30secondTHOUGHTS: Traffic Therapy

Radio is the copywriter's playground. In this medium, the art director takes a silent backseat. The copywriter's words reign the spot, his playful wit is syllabicated in his careful choice of copy. And of course, the product is benefited with the beautifully-executed spot.

JWT Manila's "Traffic Therapy" radio spot for Lotus Spa is an excellent example. A Cannes-winning entry, the spot gives a therapeutic twist to the rather irritating ambiance of a noisy traffic jam.

Ad Title: TRAFFIC THERAPY
Ad Agency: JWT Manila
Client: LOTUS SPA

The copy reads:

Look at the traffic jam. 
Aren’t you grateful to be part of it all? 
To be gazing at this vibrant expanse of cars, taxis, trucks; at dirty fingers sprouting out of windows, like flowers in spring. To be listening to all the honk, honk, honk, and the beep, beeep, beeeep; the enthusiastic exchange of Up Yours and Get moving you slowpoke. 
Your soul is waking up. You feel so… alive. You’re no longer just a driver – you’re a foot…existing in harmony with the clutch. Serenity that stays with you. 
Lotus Spa. 

30secondTHOUGHTS: Sneeze

Ad Title: SNEEZE
Ad Agency: Ace Saatchi & Saatchi
Client: Xenical



I get it. Xenical makes losing weight easier, even as fast as as a metaphorical sneeze. But somewhere along the way, my mind drifts into thinking that the sneeze is connoted to an allergic reactoin or even due to a seasonal cold - timely, given that I have seen some students come in class with tissues and clogged December nose.

 And we do lose weight when we are not feeling well - so does Xenical. So, we lose weight by not feeling well, by taking Xenical, or both?

Somewhere between the lines, the advertisement's visual metaphor and my personal interpretation gets a mixed reaction. 

Achoo. 

Confused.

30secondTHOUGHTS: That saddest print ad ever

THIS IS THE SADDEST PRINT AD EVER

I always get offended (and even depressed) whenever I chance upon the print above, installed at the south entrance of Trinoma Mall - and my disgust for the print ad elevates with every succeeding visit.

The print ad shows a plus-size model raising her hand, as if gyrating to a club music. Imposed in her black shirt is a slimmer body, projected as the figure the model aspires to have - slimmer, sexier, whiter. The aspirational message is further supported with the copy, "Max Maputi, Max Mapayat, Max Masaya."

Here's what I get from the message: (1) If I'm (to place it frankly) fat, I am not exactly happy. (2) If I'm not fair-skinned, I am not as happy as I thought I am. (3) If I'm fat and not fair-skinned, I have to question my definition of happiness, and (4) If I'm either fat, dark-skinned, or both, I must take this slimming pill to live a happier life.

Let me clarify things. I am not against the product - there is a ready-made market for slimming pills (especially with the coming holidays where women will cautiously look for ways to counteract the merriment of the Christmas salo-salo). I just feel that the message exaggerates and manipulates society's already saturated definition of media-driven happiness - the kind of ecstasy that is superficial and mostly based on the physical. The slimming pill does not have to ride on that bandwagon.

The brand can still use the model, albeit in a different fashion. How about a success story of a real plus-sized model who used the pill as complement to her slimming diet. Or other executions that disrupt the usual way we project slimming pills.

Clealry, in my opinion, this print ad disrupts - but in a rather offensive and depressing manner.

Your thoughts?

30secondTHOUGHTS: Lights Across America

It's official.

One month to go and it's...

CHRISTMAS!!!

Ad Title:           LIGHTS ACROSS AMERICA
Ad Agency:      BBDO New York
Client:               Lowe



HAPPY HOLIDAYS from the Grinch, er, Professor Mohawk!
More Christmas-themed 30secondTHOUGHTS to come.


*< : )  Ho Ho Ho

30secondTHOUGHTS: How Girls Use Google Translator

DAY TWO OF TEN

It gets better.

I'm slowly getting the Thai language. Our Khruu Poi Thai (Thai instructor) taught us the basic pattern in the Thai language - it's basically, Subject + Verb + Object.

For example, the Thai translation for "What is your name?" is "Khun Chuu Arai Krap?" and if we translate the latter in the English text it will sound like "You - To name - What Krap" which follows the Subject + Verb + Object pattern. Krap, on the other hand, is a polite participle injected at the end of every sentence by a male speaker (the female equivalent is Kha). Obviously, Krap and Kha are the Thai versions of our local po and opo.

And when you answer "Khun Chuu Arai Krap?", your response will be "Phom (or Chan for female) Chuu [your name] Krap (or Kha) - the answer will be similar to the question's pattern, albeit different in subject and object. "Just follow the pattern and you're good", words of advice from our Khruu Poi.

And one more thing, learning verbs in Thai is actually considerably "bearable." The verb structure in Thai is far easier than our language. When a foreigner actually has to exhaust his patience in teaching himself the difference between kumain, kumakain, and kakain (the Filipino equivalent of the past, present, and future tense of the proverbial tourists' word "to eat", in that order), the same foreigner only has to concern himself with learning one word - Khin. If he wants to express that he has already eaten, he will just proceed Khin with laew, or Khin laew. And if he relates that he will eat, he will preceed Khin with Ca (pronounced as Ja), or Ca Khin. Cool, right? 

The game plan is on. I will have to learn a lot more Thai words in the coming weeks and apply the new vocabulary into constructed sentences. Eight more classes to go and I can consider myself a determined traveler in the Thai language. Nii Ca Sabai Cing Cing! This will be really really good!

But for now, let's order some pizza. I'm hungry or in Thai speak,  Phom Hiw Krap!

Ad Title:           HOW GIRLS USE GOOGLE TRANSLATOR
Ad Agency:      Bogle, Bartle, and Hegarty
Client:              Google

AAAHMMM....

HHHHmmm...Interesting. I wonder who the speaker is. I heard it's his first time to do a talk.

30secondTHOUGHTS: Start Reading

I can recall, in vivid detail, how slow I was when I started reading books as a hobby. I was a late bloomer in my affair with literature - back in Sir Ian Casocot's literature class (I was third year in college that time), we were required to read a repertoire of Filipino short stories, books, and graphic novels; that "requirement" eventually fueled my interests in reading. Today, I require myself daily to spend time reading worthwhile texts - from David Ogilvy and advertising books to the stories of F. Sionil Jose and Ricky and the life story of our dear Amy Winehouse.

My pacing in reading books was a learning curve - slow at first, like the reading of a prep student, then  eventually owning the speed of a fast learner; from the patience in reading short stories to the passion in interacting with a demanding novel.

Reading,indeed, is like a mental work-out - you start with little mass and with the mental repetitions and determination, you grow reading muscles, allowing you to endure long hours of reading, with that added adrenaline rush as you flip through succeeding pages.

Ad Title:            START READING
Ad Agency:       Slava Russia
Client:                Federal Agency of Publishing and Mass Communication

The print ad above advocates that reading, both a passion and a hobby, requires commitment and starts with small but meaningful steps. It directly hits my personal journey with books - particularly with "Start with light texts. Gradually increase the load."

And I guess it would not hurt if either of the Russian writers - Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, and Alexander Pushkin - would become your unofficial book instructor, right? Imagine hearing their forceful voices as you start with your intense book training, sweat and coach whistle considered.