Of Banned Commercials And Observations On What Works

With the strong presence of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, as well as a very authoritative Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, it is rare for TVCs that toe the line to ever make it to television, at all. This is why most creative companies would rather not toe the line and risk spending so much on a commercial, only to have the MTRCB take it off the airwaves.

If you note, when you search for “banned commercials philippines” on YouTube, you will only get very few legit banned ads from the Philippines:

• The McDo ad with the little boy and girl conversing on such adult subjects as getting into a relationship.
• The crass Bayantel ad about getting your money back.

And if you take out the quotes and just search for banned commercials philippines, you will get other results, including this Raffy Francisco/Sid Maderazo original that was probably just meant for the Internet audience:

• Banned Sexy T-Shirt Commercial (Will Never Air on TV) T-Bar Girl Catfight

Either way, making this search on YouTube will give you interesting conclusions:

• Philippine creatives are MTRCB-abiding citizens.
• The Philippine masses aren’t into risque humor.

So, what’s the root of this curious case of the banned commercial?

Well, how about ADWEEK’s 30 Freakiest Ads of 2011?

It’s an interesting list, this, and it will give you a glimpse on how advertising in other countries runs.

Of course no self-respecting creative agency can toe the line to the levels of these ads, let alone produce work at par with the best (or worst) of YouTube’s banned commercials from around the world, especially in European countries. But it’s interesting to know how the Philippine market certainly differs from other regions.

But as someone once said (I, The Scribbler, actually heard this from church), the best way to keep getting the same results every time is comes from this simple process:

1. Think of an approach.
2. Try the said approach.
3. If it works, DO IT AGAIN.

If it doesn’t, then find out what does, and DO IT ALL OVER.

This is why the song-and-dance smack dab in the middle of a comedy was iterated and reiterated ad nauseum in the 80’s to 90’s. In fact, there may still be some movies that actually take the very same approach from time to time, only in HD: Because IT WORKED. So it had to be DONE ALL OVER AGAIN.

So, what worked for you, Pinay Media Planner? Was it a viral video? Was it a touching TVC? Or was it a shocking admonition, akin to the “BAWAL MAGKASAKIT” slogan of a certain vitamin brand’s fame?

Our advice: Just DO IT ALL OVER. Same pattern, different details. We’re sure you know this already.