spelling bad advertising
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009LBC’s recent TV ad which shows Edu Manzano hosting a spelling quiz bee where a kid is commended for spelling “remittance” with the courier company’s name could but bother any teacher, or perhaps any responsible adult. I was first struck by its pedagogic consequence when a colleague vented his criticism through a text-message. On the same day, I also heard my mother complaining about the same thing. But it was also on that day when I saw the other versions where two more kids are shown under the same circumstance, but this time being asked to spell, “affordable” and “instant”. At that stance, I was finally convinced that LBC should consider a reimbursement from their advertiser and parents should prevent their kids from seeing that commercial.
I considered several nosebleeding theories for back-up in finding sense to the message of the ad (and see whether the twist has real deep meaning) but to no avail. No hermeneutics can cover up the fact that such deviates from proper instruction and breaks the virtue of truth at the expense of selling a product. With all the circumstances provided in that commercial: with kids as main characters, an influential actor and a spelling bee (which is both academic and competitive) for its setting; there is no other way but to give it a formative nature. In this situation, we could just admit that orthodoxy is being called for. The presence of an influential and educated artist neither mitigated the error. An actor respected for his wit affirming that the three given terms are indeed spelled as “L-B-C” is very unthinkable. Now, I’m wondering if Manzano, in any way, dissented to what he was asked to act out. If he knows how to take care of his image and if he is indeed an influential actor, he should have opposed or requested to revise the script.
Just a sidenote: While the same predicament is present in that Tide commercial where a pre-schooler wonders about one being higher than two (isa higit sa dalawa), the spelling bee ad which never provided any correction committed a mistake that is far worse. The laundry soap ad had its saving grace, since the imparted misconception is nonetheless clarified by the smart boy’s addendum, “…sa Math!”
LBC could have been in the best position to capture the attention of a big group of clientele – the parents through their kids. Especially in this season of enrolment, it could have been the best way to express the company’s sympathy to parents who are now most concerned about their children’s education. For a creative act, it could have been edifiying and nice; but then artistic juices seemingly oozed for the company’s ego more than the concerns of its patrons, and much worse the truth. As far as I know, advertising is the creative department of marketing which liberates the act of selling from its fleeting concerns. As creative, the advertiser is enjoined to produce a new way of revealing the product. And by that, the creative advertiser is tasked to find expressions that may linger more than the product being sold. I’ve always believed that real advertisers know how to rise above marketing; they are peddlers of beauty. And as far as I know, part of the beauty of any being is its truth unbended, fully, clearly and finely expressed.
I considered several nosebleeding theories for back-up in finding sense to the message of the ad (and see whether the twist has real deep meaning) but to no avail. No hermeneutics can cover up the fact that such deviates from proper instruction and breaks the virtue of truth at the expense of selling a product. With all the circumstances provided in that commercial: with kids as main characters, an influential actor and a spelling bee (which is both academic and competitive) for its setting; there is no other way but to give it a formative nature. In this situation, we could just admit that orthodoxy is being called for. The presence of an influential and educated artist neither mitigated the error. An actor respected for his wit affirming that the three given terms are indeed spelled as “L-B-C” is very unthinkable. Now, I’m wondering if Manzano, in any way, dissented to what he was asked to act out. If he knows how to take care of his image and if he is indeed an influential actor, he should have opposed or requested to revise the script.
Just a sidenote: While the same predicament is present in that Tide commercial where a pre-schooler wonders about one being higher than two (isa higit sa dalawa), the spelling bee ad which never provided any correction committed a mistake that is far worse. The laundry soap ad had its saving grace, since the imparted misconception is nonetheless clarified by the smart boy’s addendum, “…sa Math!”
LBC could have been in the best position to capture the attention of a big group of clientele – the parents through their kids. Especially in this season of enrolment, it could have been the best way to express the company’s sympathy to parents who are now most concerned about their children’s education. For a creative act, it could have been edifiying and nice; but then artistic juices seemingly oozed for the company’s ego more than the concerns of its patrons, and much worse the truth. As far as I know, advertising is the creative department of marketing which liberates the act of selling from its fleeting concerns. As creative, the advertiser is enjoined to produce a new way of revealing the product. And by that, the creative advertiser is tasked to find expressions that may linger more than the product being sold. I’ve always believed that real advertisers know how to rise above marketing; they are peddlers of beauty. And as far as I know, part of the beauty of any being is its truth unbended, fully, clearly and finely expressed.
As the LBC advertisement is being aired for already a month, while waiting to receive my first group invite on this particular advocacy in Facebook, and with the awareness that many other adults (most especially teachers and parents) are irritated by the misleading tendencies of bad advertisements – I still believe that there’s no point in losing hope, especially now that I have done my little share.
Perhaps, just to check, gradeschool teachers should consider giving their students a spelling quiz on the first day of classes. (Hehe) Professors on advertising and art appreciation on the other hand, may perhaps consider discussing a little on the connection of the One, True Good and Beautiful. Old school, I know; but a classic nonetheless!