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It's that time of our lives once again. Time when we get to do our little bit for democracy and get our fingers stained. Who wouldn't notice when we get a hefty dose of political ads wherever we go? In fact, it's gotten so worse that I'm already singing along most of the political jingles being aired nowadays - from jingles of presidentiables to those running for city kagawad.. O_o
Just like before though - It's mostly fluff.. razzle dazzle.. designed to embed a politician's name so deeply in our brains that we cant help but mark out their special circle on the ballots come elections.. this is especially true for senatoriables where we just HAVE (although not required to) to shade out 12 choices.
On the surface, these political ads may seem irritating or just plain stupid.. scratch the surface though and you'll see the genius behind them.. those advertising/marketing people do know how to get around our defenses using the same principles they employ in making ordinary commercials.
1. Name Recall: One of the basic rules of advertising. You have build name recall for the products to actually sell. Dolphy - Dolphenal.. Asim - Simeco.. Erap - Mahirap.. Get the Drift?
2. Branding: Failing to have a name that rhymes easily with good election words, politicians can try branding themselves according to a stand, a sob story or a demographic. Joy Ultra and Tide caters to people who are money conscious (product still works extraordinarily great when extraordinarily diluted).. Colgate to those after quality (or 99.99% germ free mouths).. Motolite for those after convenience (although why wait for the car battery to bring your pregnant wife to the hospital when you can take a taxi?:D)..
On the same line of thought.. since 80% of the population are supposedly poor, then a presidentiable could not go wrong to brand himself as pro poor - marcos did it, erap did it as well so it must work. Thus the cheesy padyak padyak ads as well as the singing poor kids asking if we have ever swam in a sea of garbage or slept on the streets. ( well no but have they ever tried finishing 12 years of basic education which is free without impregnating someone or dropping out because of sheer laziness?)
Some may go for established brands.. After all, why reinvent the wheel when the old one works just fine. Thus the yellow ribbons, the childhood stories about the parents, the old photographs, etc. One even uses a variation of his old campaign branding even though he was kicked out of office a few years after.. same as the senatoriable who claims he is against corruption when his father is labeled the biggest thief in history by the Guinness book of records. O_o
Branding aside though, do we take the time to check out the list of ingredients or nutritional value of the products that we buy because of these commercials? What percentage of the polls show votes backed by emotional reasons rather than logical ones. Sad truth is, branding effectiveness is almost all about optimizing emotional response and to swing the electorate because of emotional reasons is precisely the goal. That's why we smile when kids want to eat in jolibee, feel safe when we choose Sony and feel healthy when we eat and drink 'organic' food and drinks.
3. Song - Every brand has its unique song to make it memorable and to evoke emotional response. remember the kanlungan song in McDo's commercial a few years back? How bout the rejoice song and dance commercials? Or the makulay ang buhay pag may sinabawang gulay song and dance routine? no wonder most everyone got hooked on the song.. 'di bawal mangarap ang mahirap' even those who were not poor.. thank God the kids didnt dance.. Noynoy has a weird song though.. couldnt understand the lyrics of the song.. all i could understand was... mumble mumble rap rap... noynoy!... mumble muble rap rap... noynoy! O_o
4. Advertising Frequency: they say it takes 9 impressions to make a sale.. they also say its better to make 9 impressions to 10% of the target market than just 3 impressions to 90% of the market. So its not enough for people to see your ads, they also have to see it frequently enough for it to be retained in their minds.
That's why you see the 'di bawal manganrap ang mahirap' song mostly during wowowee and primetime teleseryes.. Target market poor: wowowee - crying and laughing poor people + teleserye - the poor man's opium = mind control. He he
5. Story: We all love a great or funny story. Remember the Wais si Lumen commercial series? How bout the 'palagi na lang ako' kid? And the recent one about safeguard where the wife always finds a way to ruin his husband's day?
Just like the songs that embed themselves in our minds, great story lines are a good way to build brand recall or in this case name recall for a politician. Thus the lines about a presidentiable's sibling dying because the had no money to buy medicines (meds for leukemia though? O_o) or how they used to live in a shack where the roof leaks. Another story goes about how a presidentiable's parents sacrificed their lives for our country (and how he would like to do the same? O_o ).
The cake however goes to the presidentiable who claims that things were going great during his short lived term in office (I joined the march in EDSA dos to impeach you Mr. Ex president and a president who can make a very lazy, home hermit me to do that sure as hell doesnt deserve a second chance).
Yes, its all razzle dazzle where billions and billions of pesos are being poured into great campaign machines to churn out TV ads, posters, stickers, shirts, bathroom tissues? O_o (would you like to wipe your ass with trapos?), balloons, etc, etc, etc, etc... all designed to turn the country's electorate into the proverbial sheep being lead to the slaughter... sing our songs now.. bleed later..
Meanwhile, worthwhile election tasks designed to help us vote wisely like debates are being ignored..
who cares?.. we got them stories and songs anyways..
So sing your hearts out and join the millions marching to our country's funeral song...
' Hindi bawal mangarap ang mahirap! '
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