For friends who have been asking me how they can get their hands on tentacle wares, you can order through their blog: electromagnetictentacle.blogspot.com and their Facebook page. The shirts are also available at Sputnik Comics in Cubao X, and Dragon's Keep in Shoppesville Plus, Greenhills. You'll also be able to visit their booth at most of the toy and comic conventions. Here's a showcase of their latest mutations:
A band of self-professed geeks and advertising super friends have uprooted your favorite superheroes and put them in ironic situations right here on our home turf--the gritty streets of Manila. They are known as Electromagnetic Tentacle.
I did an interview with them for Inquirer which was published a while back. Due to space limitations, I had to cut out a lot of our conversation. So, I decided to share the entire thing here on my blog. Perfect, since they’re celebrating their 1-year anniversary this month!
Carl “Iceman” Urgino, Janlo “Cougar” Cui, Javey “Maverick” Villones and Joe “Merlin” Dy
Musamanila: How did you guys start this venture?
Joedy: Actually, we were all officemates in JWT for quite some time. Carl, Javey and I met one afternoon in Starbucks sometime last year. We’ve been wanting to do a t-shirt business for the longest time but we’ve never taken it seriously. So we decided to meet up one day and crank out some ideas. We were all creatives and so we figured we’d never get this done so we called in an accounts person, Janlo.
Janlo: So they brought me in and we talked about suppliers and we just started. Without thinking and before anyone could back out, we were paying to have the shirts made.
Musamanila: What was the first t-shirt design? What inspired it?
Joedy: There’s a guy from Threadless, his name is Glenzz, he does particularly pop-culture inspired designs. Javey actually suggested putting a Pinoy twist into the shirts. After he said that, the ball just started rolling. One of the earliest was Aquaballs and Bakalman.
Aquaballs
Bakalman
Musamanila: You guys seem so synched. Are you guys all geeks?
Janlo: They’re all geeks. I’m married to one so I’m just a geek by assimilation. They just keep talking about it so I absorb it. One of these days, I’ll end up talking like them.
Musamanila: Is the T-shirt business all it’s cracked up to be? Are you making enough to retire from advertising?
Joedy: I wouldn’t say we could retire.
Janlo: It’s more like it goes around. We’re not losing money, we’re making enough to reinvest in a second wave of shirts. But the cool thing there was even our bosses were interested in the shirts.
Joedy: We’ve definitely profited. But, our goal is really just to have fun and to grow it.
Janlo: We need to just follow up with our five-year plan.
Joedy: Really? We have that?
Janlo: More like a dream.
Joedy: You hear about guys with t-shirt businesses that take off but we’re not harboring any unrealistic fantasies. Though it’s been encouraging because the response to the shirts is quite positive. We’ve gotten requests to open up a store but we can’t at the moment.
Batlite
Spider Fight
Janlo: The first comic book convention that we did was so encouraging because we didn’t expect so many people to buy. The best things we get from the business are the laughs of people who pass by our booth. They even bring back their friends just to laugh.
Joedy: At some point, we even thought of putting up a sign: Piso Bawat Tawa (One peso for every laugh). You laugh at it, you bought it.
Musamanila: What’s geek chic, if there is such a thing?
Javey: Geeks like to show off who we support; the rarer the shirt the better. That’s why our shirts with the Pinoy twist work, because it’s precisely the humor of the convention crowd. Sample ng geek, ako (is me). I don’t usually buy sneakers but when Adidas Star Wars came out, napabili ako (I ended up buying).
Super Tubero Brods.
Invisible Jeep
Musamanila: Why the name Electromagnetic Tentacle?
Joedy: We were experimenting around with weird names. It’s a reference to “Voltes 5,” and the “tentacle” came about because we used to play poker a lot, and we like making bad puns. And we used to say, “10 to call” which then evolved into “tentacle.” I’m tempted to say it was inspired by Hentai because that would have been a lot cooler.
Musamanila: Who would you want to endorse EMT?
Joedy: We’re happy with our current lineup of friends, like Jay Tablante, who is a famous Cosplay photographer. When he goes for interviews, he wears our shirts.
Janlo: Does he do that to support us?
Joedy: Feeling ko kasi, ‘yun yung gusto niyang pagpawisan (that’s what he chooses to sweat in). Kidding aside, he wore it to the Singapore Comic Con where he got interviewed for TV.
Musamanila: I don’t think we have a mainstream Geeks to represent the Philippines. Is there anyone you’re thinking of getting in the future?
Joedy: We’d want to get Pinoy artists; some of the top DC and Marvel artists are actually Filipinos who are based here in the Philippines. Some of them have actually expressed their delight, umm… approval, basta natuwa sila sa mga shirts (they were amused by the shirts). Budgette has a very strong following in the geek community. Also, the guys at Sputnik. We’ve gotten a lot of support from our friends, from our families, and colleagues. But we get a big kick when we see the shirts being worn by strangers, because we know that they didn’t buy our shirts because they’re our friends.
Musamanila: How many shirts have you sold so far? And are the older editions still available?
Joedy: The older editions are almost sold out. A couple of shirts are completely gone.
Janlo: I think we’ve sold around a thousand, actually, more than a thousand.
Joedy: We only produce a hundred of each design. Maybe, we’ll produce a limited reprint of each.
Vulcanizer
Green Parol
Musamanila: I want to delve more into the geek culture. Were you guys always geeks? What’s it like to grow up a geek in the Philippines?
Janlo: When I was in college, I was surrounded by guys who were all geeks. In their own circle, they were cool. They were popular in school but whey they’re together, they kept talking about those comic book characters, always drawing everywhere. They’d get popular girls coming up to them asking them, “Hey, can you draw for me?” People would see them drawing popluar characters so they’d approach them. Girls especially would ask, “Uy, pa-drawing naman ng ganito? Can you do me in this…?”
Group: (Laughter and chuckling)
Javey: It was different for me. I was a mathlete so they’d always go, “Pakopya naman ng assignment (Can I copy your homework)?”
Joedy: This is me just guessing. I’m not really an authority but I think it was in the 80s when you had all these cartoons coming in from the US and from Japan. Filbars started importing comics more. That’s actually when you started seeing more geeks. The kids of that age are the same. Even the bullies, they’d be bullying you but they’d be holding on to their G.I. Joe action figure. So geek pa din.
Musamanila: There seems to be a geek resurgence right now. I noticed that even mainstream bookstores have a sizable comic book section.
Janlo: They’re developing it because they recognize that there is market.
Javey: From personal experience, it’s easier to be a geek now, because before, your only access was the comic book store, and you really had to seek friends with the same interests which is hard. But now, with the Internet, they’re everywhere.
Joedy: Somebody said before that when the Internet boomed in the 90s, geeks just started becoming more and more relevant.
Janlo: People need them, I get that sense that when you say a person is a geek, it’s a cooler term now then it was back then. It’s not a negative thing anymore.
Kummander
Dirty Harry
Musamanila: Any advice for creatives wanting to put up a business?
Joedy: First tip- Get a suit (accounts person). Carl was my partner and he was an art director. We’ve been wanting to put up a shirt business since 2006. But being creative, walang nangyayari (nothing happened). When we pulled Janlo into it, that’s when it actually everything happened. We had all these ideas but she would set the deadlines.
Janlo: No turning back, after that.
Musamanila: Actually, creatives really need someone to reign them in.
Joedy: Once we saw the shirts printed, there was a bit of a shift in your head. Because before it was just an idea but when you see it made and made the way you want it made, may reward siya (there’s a reward) and it encourages you to do more. I still remember when it first came in. We were in a pitch in JWT. Thank God our bosses were a little bit lenient. They saw it coming in. We were hauling in a big bag of t-shirts.
Musamanial: Why did you have it delivered in the office?
Joedy: We needed an office address.
Janlo: It was a last minute delivery, the night before the comic con and we lived in different areas and the office was the most accessible. And it just so happened there was a pitch happening that night.
Joedy: But the cool thing there was even our bosses were interested in the shirts.
Musamanila: Did you guys make a sale that night?
Janlo: Actually, we did.
Joedy: I still remember holding it up for the first time, actually the test print when we met with the supplier, I got the feeling. It’s a rush knowing totoo na ‘to (this is real). It’s no longer a jpeg.
Janlo: It’s actually a shirt that someone is going to wear.
Bahala Man
Ghostrider
Musamanila: It’s cool your bosses encourage you to do this…
Joedy: It’s called daylighting. There’s a new trend where companies encourage you to work on your day job on something you are passionate about. It’s there to encourage work-life balance. But we call it, work-work balance. My boss, Dave Ferrer, would actually encourage us by saying, “Tuloy niyo ‘yan. Tuloy niyo ‘yan!” (“Continue that. Continue that.”) It’s good we had support from the boss.
Janlo: There was such big support that even their CEO shared it in a marketing convention. He wore a shirt under his suit jacket and he talked about it to hundreds of marketing people.
Joedy: Even the clients were supportive. We’ve even had clients order from us. I remember the J&J clients delayed our offline meeting because they were ordering shirts. Even the head of marketing was like, “That’s really nice. Do I get a free shirt?”. Interactions like those are actually quite rewarding.
Musamanila: Actually, a thousand shirts is a lot. It’s like having a thousand artworks out there. That's definitely something to be proud of.
Pain medicine is such a difficult category to do ads for because all the great ideas have been claimed, used, and beaten dead. Maybe, that's why a lot of brands just get an endorser, who can mouth of cutesy lines, to do all the work. When I first saw these Saridon print ads, I was impressed with its cheekiness. It’s a novel way to visualize a hackneyed problem. The idea is simple: a persistent headache is one that mimics your every move, detering you from the task at hand.
I just loved the gritty Philippine setting combined with the characters: a wet market vendor, a carpenter, and a labandera (laundry woman). Everyday people hard at work- not the typical “aspirational” office worker or artista (actor). These are the people that really need pain relief. They deserve to be featured on ads!
Congrats to the BBDO Team who came up with it. Brilliant. A Silver Clio is just the beginning, guys!
Registration is open for the 2013 elections and I thought posting this political video would be apt.
The vid shows an alternate way of seeing what went down during People Power. I had an earlier post talking about my thoughts after reading, American Boy, by James Hamilton-Paterson. In that book, he claimed that Marcos and Ninoy were confidantes. In fact it was Ferdinand Marcos who would supply information to Ninoy Aquino if ever he needed to take criticize Imelda Marcos, then the governor of Metro Manila. Marcos would then try to console his wife, Imelda, by saying that he'd get Ninoy the next time.
This week, we will find out the fate of Willing Willie. I haven’t written about it for so long because his retaliation video perturbed me. Don’t get me wrong. I want these kinds of shows to stop. But I’ve realized that there is truth to what Willie is saying.
On Palm Sunday, exactly a week ago, a hard wave of pure guilt washed over. Willie’s query flooded in my brain, “Ano bang nagawa ninyo para sa mahirap?” I asked myself if I was doing my share. I donate to charities. I give to the less fortunate. I even tried to reform a wayward cousin to help him graduate from college. But still, I felt guilty. The truth is, the problem of poverty in the Philippines is abysmal. There is no bottom and thus I can never do enough.
Depressing huh?
Not really. It simply means that I have to be more vigilant and more proactive about my contributions to society. Look at what happened with Jan-Jan. I’ve always thought that show was inappropriate, but I waited for a macho dancing child to show up before I started blogging about it. I’m sure it is the same way for a lot of people.
That video was gross though.
The combination of the macho dance, the boy’s crying, and the audience laughing just assaults you. Watching that episode made me feel disgusting. It triggered the shame of a nation and the wrath of the upper and middle class. Willie might be on to something when he started making this class war. Truth be told, all his loyal viewers see is the loss of a beloved show and the chance to make money. We are not really explaining our to the innocents.
Yes, his viewers are innocent.
Innocent because just like Jan-Jan they are being exploited day in and day out, yet they welcome it. Innocent, because it’s not their fault. How can you begin to talk of dignity and self-worth when you’re hungry? When you’re down in the dumps and P10, 000 will save your life? When everyone has a TV but your family? In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, self-actualization is the last to come. There are so many more rungs to climb before they start valuing the things we do. Willie truly believes that by giving a helping hand on the 1st level, he is doing what needs to be done. But we believe differently so we have to take responsibility to provide for those levels.
The question now is, “How?”
Honestly, I don’t have any answers. Some rough ideas but nothing concrete. But I’d like to thank Willie for posing that question, “Ano bang nagawa ninyo para sa mahirap?” It is a very a good question. I hope that this Holy Week, Willie Revillame took the time to read what was being written about him. I pray that question will lead him to lend his popularity to a show that’s truly helpful to Filipinos.
We all have to seek out a solution. In the meantime, let's put a stop tio Willing Willie.
Veejay Villafranca's black and white photographs have always been powerfully captivating. He did a series on a Baseco gang that won him the Ian Parry Scholarship. He's the first Filipino to have done so and he did it at the age of 26. Here's a series he's been working on that stemmed from his friendship with the Baseco gang members. Apparently a lot of the hardened men are Black Nazarene devotees.
He has more photos on his website and on GMA News. But if you're interested to hear him speak about his love for photography, click this to go to a Ted Talk's recording on Estancabigas's blog.
Holy week is just a couple of days away so naturally, the work is just pouring in. I have no time to post even if there are so many things marinating in my wee brain. So, I'll just plug a site that was done by my agency for Fedex. It's a very interesting look at our changing world through interactive infographics.
This is how our world would if country size was based on the population living in cities back in 1975.
Now, it's based on the happiness of the people living in the country. Lookie, we're larger than Australia!
Whattup?!?! Japan is larger than the entire continent of Africa.
It's a great way to learn a thing or two about our world and yes, it was made right here in the Philippines!
If you have 5 minutes, please please vote for it at the Webby Awards. Click that link. You'll have to register, but if you tick the right box, you'll also get updates on a wealth of cool sites, apps and other online experiences. Oh, and if you want to see more of the FedEx Changing World website and hear my supposedly dulcet voice-over, you can check it out here - http://checkitout.ph/changingworld/
This blog is like the Filipino dessert that mixes together unrelated ingredients such as ice, beans, gelatin, purple yam, and cream into something fun. Here’s a yummy serving of my own halo-halo musings on art, advertising, history, fashion, photography and inspiration.
Manila Through the Eyes of Teodulo Protomartir
Ballet Barbies in Filipino Designer Dresses
An Ifugao Top and Cultural Propogation
Neil Gaiman is a Fan of the Philippines
Remembering Election Day
