Randomicity In The Middle Of The Day...

.:This Feels Weird...:.

So here I am, raring to go for this Saturday's Axe Anarchy Raid in Eastwood, and all I could think of is how much of a drag it is to go leave the office and drop by RX 93.1 to see Jinri Park and Karen Bordador to discuss what's going to happen.

Of course I'm joking.

There is no way seeing these amazing ladies would ever constitute being "a drag". Ever. Still, who'd have thought that this would end up being what I have to do, right? Can't say I'd ever complain.

.:Aysee, How I Missed Thee:.

After dropping in on the Disenchanted Kingdom last night, I ended up having late dinner with them at Aysee. Sisig goodness! That was just wonderful.

Considering how I've been hanging out with these guys for nearly three years, I must say, the Disenchanted Kingdom has been a pretty integral part of my life already at this point.

.:Should I Give Up, Or Should I Just Keep Chasing Pavements?:.

Even if it leads nowhere? :(

.:A Prelude To This Week's Project 52...:.

So Bayo came out with this pretty eye-catching campaign recently...

I'm bad at numbers. How does this even work?

I mean, it's pretty clever, in that hey, a mix is awesome, right? Whether you're pure Pinoy or a mix of races, it's all good. That's a pretty positive message for diversity, and when I was looking at the billboards, I thought nothing of it. It's not like they were advocating a superior race or anything like that, right?

But then, the copy came along...

Greatness by lineage! Voldemort He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would be pleased!

You can imagine the crapstorm that followed from this, I believe. Still, I refuse to get all worked up on poor wording, so I will just share with you what Marocharim had to add to this campaign...

Rolled! Into! One!

And of course, how could I not possibly share my take on this mix?

0% Stranger to love.

Expect a more thorough post tomorrow, I guess.

Project 52 (12/52): Why The Magnum Launch Worked (Despite All The Backlash)

.:Project 52 (12/52): Why The Magnum Launch Worked (Despite All The Backlash):.

Not that Magnum. That wouldn’t be a launch. That’d be an explosion.

Sometime last week, Selecta’s premium ice cream brand, Magnum, officially launched in the Philippines, albeit there were already stocks of the product available in most convenience stores and supermarket. At 55 pesos per helping, it’s not that expensive, but it certainly isn’t cheap when you compare it to other offerings in the freezer.

It feels like all the hipsters crawled out of the woodwork when they started selling Magnum here. It’s like everyone just wanted to say that they knew about it even before it got to the Philippines. That’s nice, really. Maybe they think it makes them special or something to eat some kind of ice cream before everyone else did.

They feel like royalty, I guess?

The best way to kill a bad product is to advertise the Hades out of it. That’s also the best way to boost a good product. Given how successful Magnum is, regardless of our opinions on the brand or how pretentious the diehard advocates of the brand come off to us, there’s no question that on this criteria alone, Magnum is definitely a good product. Personally, I actually like it. I’m a sucker for Belgian chocolate, and have fond memories of Mr. Donut ensnaring me with their offering back in the day.

The launch was crazy, to say the least. It was a star-studded affair, featuring the endorsers of Magnum, such as Solenn, Raymond Gutierrez, Rajo Laurel, Erwan, and Liz Uy, and even some top stars from all the networks, such as Kim Chiu, Rhian Ramos, and Aljur Abrenica. I just found myself mystified at how much effort Selecta put into making sure the event would succeed, and it was pretty clear that they were going to reap the benefits, even if there was, to me, one very sore spot about the whole campaign...

Hey, kids starving on the street! Hindi daw kayo COOL!

If you like Magnum, cool. If you don’t like it, cool. Ruffa Gutierrez, in all her infinite wisdom, decided to put down everyone who didn’t care about the product, and boy, did she reap the backlash for this comment. Privilege and the ignorance borne from it, here we go again!

I mean, really. Magnum’s a great brand, but it’s not in any way life-changing. Seriously. To put that much stock in it, to put that much emphasis on it, is just ridiculous, and let’s face it, Ruffa Gutierrez isn’t exactly the paragon of sensitivity, either. With people riding the wave of hate and calling Magnum “overrated” and “overpriced pinipig crunch,” and “the social climber’s ice cream,” there was a bit of anti-rich, anti-privilege sentiment there that bubbled to the surface.

Then again, at 55 bucks a pop, it really shouldn’t be that much of a social status symbol, should it?

Yet despite all of these mishaps, Selecta has a winner on their hands. While some might say they have a winner because of their marketing campaign, I would actually have to say, in large thanks to Ruffa Gutierrez, they have a winner despite their marketing campaign. A good product simply can meet only so much backfire before it edges out on its own merits.

Teaaaaaaaam Fabioooooooooooooooo!!!

.:What Was I Saying About Old Spice Again?:.

The other day, I was talking about how brilliant the Old Spice campaign was, and what a phenomenon Isaiah Mustafa has turned into because of it.

Well, just today, someone has decided to challenge the Old Spice Guy's reign of dominance!

Fabioooooooooo!!!

Fabio has challenged the Old Old Spice Guy as the New Old Spice Guy. It's pretty brilliant, and hilarious, as Fabio just does and says crazy stuff, and all the people on Twitter who are helping this phenomenon trend yet again are having the time of their lives as both Fabio and Isaiah respond to a few Tweets here and there. I'm still hoping against hope they'd pick my Tweet to respond to, but no luck so far. :(

Fabio was the guy who made other men envious almost three decades ago. It's amazing to see that while he has obviously aged, the man still has what it takes to be a brand spokesman who is both archetypal and satirical of machismo at the same time. That requires a kind of gravitas that I believe Fabio has in spades.

Such a huge, throbbing gravitas. I clearly did not look the word up in the dictionary for proper usage.

All that being said, I've checked out most of their mad libs on their YouTube channel, but this video from Fabio's own Old Spice YouTube channel was probably the best one so far:

Need I say it again? Fabioooooooooooooooo!!!

A total hit of a campaign, in my opinion. The ground rules have been set, and now, the battle for Old Spice supremacy has commenced, with people voting through Twitter, YouTube, and possibly other social media, including Reddit, so I heard.

Which horse am I backing, other than the one Isaiah was riding in the original commercial? Well, given my name is Marcelle FabiE, I guess I'd throw my hat in and go with Team FabiO, because really, when the immovable object and the unstoppable force clash with one another, picking a side doesn't really need any more thought or logic. Also, Fabio has appeared in hundreds of romance novel covers already. How many romance novel covers has Isaiah shown up in? Yeah, I didn't think so, either.

Quite honestly, whether you're Team Isaiah or Team Fabio, everyone wins. Unless of course...

... Where are the Old Spice Girls?!? We demand diversity!!!

This situation bears watching, for sure. Oh, it's true! It's true!

Tippex Asks If You Should Shoot The Bear!

.:Viral As Viral Can Be:.

This bears watching. But my puns are unbearable.

Tipp-Ex is a relatively unknown brand in the Philippines, but it's pretty much ink correction fluid. While everyone must be pretty aware of the amazing Old Spice Guy commercials, Tipp-Ex is comparable to it. That the whole Old SPice campaign went viral like nobody's business was a phenomenon in 2010, although ironically, despite increased sales across the board, the specific brand being featured in the original ad actually dropped by 7% in sales.

Tipp-Ex hasn't had the same kind of amazing coverage Isaiah Mustafa may have gotten through the Old Spice campaign, but this viral campaign is no less brilliant, if you'd just bother watching that video. Seriously. Go ahead, then come back to me when you've had your fill.

I can wait.

Okay. You done checking it out? Good. Did you like it? Because seriously, that whole campaign was one of the most creative things I have ever seen. The minute the hunter grabbed the Tipp-Ex from outside the YouTube video frame and used it to erase "shoots" from the title, my jaw dropped. It was one of those moments where you look at something and wish you thought of it first.

Know that you will probably never be anywhere nearly as witty as the guys who came up with this.

I really wish this campaign got more attention. Sure, 10 million views is a pretty big deal, but when the Old Spice campaign leads it in views 4 to 1, you wish more people just recognized how well this campaign was executed. People keep saying that creativity in general has taken a hit over the years, yet here's Tipp-Ex proving that they can literally break outside the box and come up with something that captures the imagination of people. We must've tried forty or so different words just to see how many videos these guys came up with. We've only had like five misses all throughout, and everything else was accounted for.

Did this campaign even win an award? Because I think it totally should.