Make a Kanta Call for Your Fave Filipino Overseas Worker

Kanta Calls is something I'm very proud of. It's a heartwarming and funny digital effort made by BBDO- Guerrero for our 10 million Pinoys working abroad. It's also an easy way for the millions of OFW kids (like me) to send some love to their hardworking parents abroad.

So what is a Kanta Call? 

Bayantel had us create an application where Filipinos in the Philippines could send a musical call to any Filipino overseas. Just go the site. Pick a genre: Hip-hop. Traditional ballad or Power ballad. Personalize your lyrics. Type in your loved one’s phone number. Then at a time of your choosing, their phones will ring and they’d hear their very own personalized song. And yes, it's absolutely free!

http://www.kantacalls.com.ph/

When we were conceptualized this, I really thought of my parents who have been working abroad for more than 25 years. My dad is a pharmacist who moved to Saudi Arabia as a young man. There, he met a bewitching nurse who captured his heart. Eventually, they wed and had me and my brother. Now, they're based in the States and I see them once a year. People who have never lived abroad can take for granted the sacrifices our overseas Filipino workers make to be able to support their families. I'm glad that I grew up in Saudi Arabia because I've experienced those things firsthand. I'm so grateful to my folks Ruben and Emma. This one's for you Poppy and Mumsky!

Try it out. My friends have been cracking up to the crowd-pleasing Rap version. But being a little old-fashioned, I prefer the Kundiman.

A big shout out to the talented people in our agency who made this possible: Pia Roxas, Corey Cruz, Karen Gosingan, Racquel Narciso, Paul Guadalupe, and Sheena Siao. I hope I didn't miss anyone.

How to Hit Willie Hard

If 73 dead people did not bring Willie Revillame down, neither will a macho-dancing 6 year old. Almost anyone who has any concern for the country detests the game shows of Willie Revillame for their degrading effects on society. But he remains the king of the noontime slot because the masses love him. Why do they love him? Is it because he’s funny? Is he iresistable with  the ladies (and the lolas)? Is it because he has a heart of gold? Not really. The masses adore him because they think that he’s an everyday Santa Claus. Just show Willie you’ve been good (and that you are dirt poor) and you’re sure to leave the workshop with a treat.

But Willie is no Santa Clause. The goodies he is giving are not his own. It’s coming from advertisers- the commercials that fund his show. A friend who works in media told me that a TV spot on TV5’s Willing Willie costs P150,000 on a weekday and P180,000 on a weekend. That’s right folks, every time a commercial spot airs: kaching, kaching, kaching! How many commercials do you see throughout the entire show? When you compare that to the measly thousand Peso handouts being given to the contestants, you will be appalled.

Willie Revillame has several houses, a yacht, and a luxury car collection. 

It’s all good that there are letters being written to TV5. But I think it would hurt a lot more to appeal to the advertisers who fund this machine.  Write to your brands and let them know what you think about shows like Willing Willie.  Let them know that you are a powerful consumer and a concerned citizen. Ask your brands if they really want to be associated with a show that promotes lasciviousness at a young age.

I cringe at the sight of six year-old Jan Jan dancing this way. Remember how Rizal said that the youth is the hope of the nation? If the youth of the nation is being taught to macho dance for money, even if it is for laughs, then you know exactly where our country is headed. 

I'm looking for Filip+Inna!

This week started hectic and it's only now that I've gotten a chance to sit down and blog. After seething over the whole DOT "Pilipinas, tara na" logo debacle, I learned that things are somewhat getting better for our tourism industry.  26 million tourists last year and they've shelved the, "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" Campaign. Awesome!

So, now it's time to relax and turn to nobler tasks. Like shopping for Filipino designed fashion! I saw these fab pieces on this month's issue of Metro. It's listed as a Filip+Inna design but the magazine doesn't really point you to any shops in the Philippines. When I checked online it was selling in a specialty web boutique called Indagare Souk.

I've been looking for Philippine ethnic patterned dresses like this for the longest time. Actually, I didn't think they existed so I was going to go through the trouble of having placemats turned into a wearable outfit. Can you imagine these being wearable?

Ummm... good luck to me! Now that I know it's out there, I'd rather support this quirky designer. Where oh where are you Filip+Inna?

Team Manila Strikes Fast

What I'd tell you? In my last post, I said there's a wealth of artistic talent in the Philippines. So much so that some top designers are willing to help out the government for free. In practically no time at all, Team Manila came up with their own versions of the "PILIPINAS, TARA NA!" logo and I am liking it.

I think they've managed to capture the fun intent of the original logo.  They used a whole lot of colors, quite unusual for modern logos but essential in the Philippine market. My personal favorite is the last one. Which one's yours?

Check Team Manila's Flickr for more designs.

Note: I tried posting this yesterday but for some reason Blogger wasn't uploading pics. Gar.

Is this new DOT logo for real?

As much as I’d like to support the Philippine Department of Tourism, I cannot condone the choices they’re making. We are a nation with amazing artists. We have top Marvel and DC artists based here. We have an abundance of globally awarded advertising agencies here. We have so many talented designers, a lot of whom would work for free to help the government out. And yet, we continuously come up with things like this:

This is the logo that DOT came out with to encourage local tourists to travel. According to Ironwulf En Route, “This is DOT’s new official logo for Pilipinas, Tara Na Campaign. This was made in cooperation with Smart and Perception of domestic tourism only.” Luckily, I’m always surrounded by opinionated artsy folk here and online. So I showed them the logo and here are their responses.

Art Prodigy:
“It looks like it's been done by kid who's in a public school elementary. Pang on-the-spot poster making contest”

Photographer:
"It's f*ck*ng horrible. T*ng*n*, I would rather that they steal something all over again, than put shit like that up on the net. It looks like an 80s cartoon for a gradeschool text book. And that girl on the boat looks like the scene in Titanic."

Web Designer:
“You can’t resize that. It’s not applicable as a logo.”

Creative Director (and Twitter Celebrity):
“It doesn’t motivate me to travel anywhere. It’s cheap and dated.”


Head of Design:
“Panget? Coloring book? Pambata? A logo should have flat colors as much as possible no gradient. Flat colors with dark & light background variations. Kumbaga reverse puwede mo i-apply sa dalawa.”


I kept their names hidden because I wanted their answers to be as candid as possible. My opinion on it, which I posted on Twitter: “The new DOT logo reminds me of some cartoons I saw in a Saudia Airlines giveaway. I got that more than a decade ago”. In hindsight, that was better done. It also had kids on a plane. But they didn’t look like they were attached to it.

How to Build a Bottle School

Last weekend, I got the rare opportunity to take part in something amazing.

A group from our agency trouped over to San Pablo to help build a bottle school. 

The school is the project of My Shelter Foundation and the social entrepreneur, Illac Diaz. The idea is to use Litro soda bottles filled with soil as a sustainable and cheap replacement for traditional cement blocks. I learned that a filled bottle is much stronger than a cement block and costs just 1 Peso, making bottle schools extremely affordable. The only glitch is that it’s quite labor intensive. So if you can, try and volunteer.

How to Build a Bottle School:  

Step 1: Gather bottles. A whole lot of bottles. Pepsi helped gather 7,000 to 8,000 needed for the classrooms. 

 Step 2. Find a place with a lot of dry dirt.

Step 3: Sift it so that there are no roots or rocks.

Step 4. Create a mixture of water, soil, and 3% cement. Put them inside bottles. Get dirty.

Step 5: Stop for yucky photo op. (Note: Mud feels strangely refreshing on hands.)

Step 6: Break for lunch at your nearest SM food court.

Step 7: Gather bottles that have been baked in the sun for 12 hours and start stacking it up with cement.

Step 8: Pose on finished wall. Don’t you just dig how the bottles add texture to the walls?

Tadah! You have a bottle school that will last up to three generations. Here's a photo of some kids that hung out with us the whole day. The kid in pink is a boy. Such a cutie.

Please don’t try this at home kids! Contact this expert first. It was his idea and I’m sure he’ll be glad to help you get started. He’s also cooking up another project worth looking at- Isang Litrong Liwanag uses plastic bottles as an alternative light source for homes. The magic is that it requires no electricity. 

Joy Dishwashing Soap Dishes Out Fashion Advice

 

Joy to the world! Finally Joy dishwashing soap decided to deviate from their usual "most plates per floor space and Michael V's face" kinda ad. This advertising campaign builds from a truly local insight about a Pinoy's habit to wash plates with dish washing soap. The copy reads: “Yaman din lamang at nilabhan mo ang plato sa bareta, isuot mo na ito.” Roughly translated: “As you have washed the plate with a bar, you might as well wear it.” It's campy fashiony way to look at boring old soap.

 

Credits to the Campaigns and Grey and the team behind this:

Chief Creative Officer: Ompong Remigio
Creative Director:  Noel Orosa
Associate Creative Director: Mel Aguinaldo
Copywriter: Noel Orosa
Art Directors: Gil Corcuera, Anton Panajon
Photographer: Milo Sogueco
Production Designer: Rious Caliso
Stylists: Rious Caliso, Noel Orosa