Here's an opinion submitted by Ronilo A. Domingo, found on the web. Read his judgement on the sexy EDSA billboards.
Ronilo A. Domingo
January 20, 2007
Bro. Coronel,
MJ Philosophy of Sexuality
Mid-Term Exam
Ehem, In the Philippines, especially urban areas like Metro Manila, we are “flooded”with billboards. We are surrounded by advertisements of scantily clad attractive men andwomen. But these sexy billboards arouse our sexual impulse and sexual fantasies. Itdistracted our attention and makes us imagine that this of man/woman is the type I wouldlike to have a sexual intercourse. They are the object of our desire. Its human nature to becurious about sex. For example, the sexy billboard of So-en Garments models wearingonly bras and panties and Bench male model wearing only the skimpiest underwear makeour libido explodes. The problem is men (even women) who see the sexy billboarddistracted their attention when crossing the street or driving a car. It causes accidents tothe people. Sex in billboard ad has stirred controversy for many years. In 2003, theNapoleon brandy posted their sexy billboard all over Metro Manila with the ad message,“Nakatikim ka na ba ng Kinse Anyos?” with a young woman smiling and holding thebrandy. This made a public outrage because it degraded the dignity and honor of theyouth and women in general. Does it convey there are no more virgins in the Philippines?The sexual content is implicit, yet direct! This resulted in the protest of more than 550people, convenors, and organizers with the CBCP and Gabriela joining in. It isunbefitting to the dignity of Filipino women, they say.
I conclude, therefore, sexy billboard should not be allowed to put up in the streetsand buildings that connote sexual message and image. It makes models an object ofdesire, it causes accidents. It robs both the models and the consumers of human dignityand honor. Sex sells, yes, but only when used in “good taste.”
The battle of whiter armpits and
underarm freshness is taken to a new level as brands shout out their
supremacy in personal hygiene with spectacular billboards on EDSA.
This is an interesting development in the out of home media industry
wherein more often than not, the skirmishes are between telcos, apparel,
shoes, and financial products. Lately, apart from the notable emergence
of billboards advertising cars, Sarah Geronimo and Anne Curtis have
been displaying their flawless armpits for their respective camps. Who
is the winner? Well, if you were to ask me, it looks like a tie. Sarah
G. looks so awkward with her pose while Anne stuns us with her
superhero outfit. How to settle the issue? Call for a
special execution with scratch and sniff technology. How's that for a
really interactive billboard?
Lloyd Tronco is a Certified Digital
Marketer and Out-Of-Home Media Strategist. His experience in OOH Media
spans being a vendor for OOH in the Visayas and Mindanao as well as
being one of the pioneer OOH Media Strategists in the Philippines at the
turn of the millenium.
Outdoor advertising is an inescapable
medium. You can turn off the television, turn off the radio, close the
pages of the newspaper or a magazine, put down a mobile phone, but one
cannot easily avoid outdoor advertising. Despite all the criticism it
has received through the years because of the proliferation of
billboards in Metropolitan Manila, outdoor advertising is very much part
of the Filipino and his lifestyle. Truth is, Filipinos love outdoor
advertising – they just do not profess it openly. Early photographs of Old Manila (circa
1910 and onwards) show that apart from the signboards posted above
establishments in Sta. Cruz and Binondo, buildings were mounted with
billboard signs of products which were not directly sold within the
premises. This is solid proof in the belief that even as early as the
turn of the century, businesses then knew how to employ a means of
marketing communication which hit the Filipino consumers where they were
at – out-of-home. From the receiving end, Filipino
consumers respond positively to the messages conveyed through outdoor
advertising. As evidenced by the numbers provided by the Philippine
Center for Out-Of-Home Media Research and Science in its landmark
Out-Of-Home Media Study, 82% of people surveyed like to look at
billboards and 69% like to look at lightboxes and posters. There is no doubt that Filipinos are
attracted to messages conveyed visually rather than auditory. From the
moment we step out of our homes and encounter that stapled sign on the
electric post offering the services of a plumber or the house mover with
his own truck, to the more sophisticated LED screens we see on EDSA and
the newfangled touch screen directories at the mall, outdoor
advertising or out-of-home media as it is more known among marketers
these days is surely here to stay. There used to be a point in the past
wherein outdoor advertising or OOH media was not included in the usual
mix of media recommendations of media planners who often skewed their
clients budgets towards the media triumvirate of TV, radio, and print.
All of that has changed as the consumers have become more mobile and
spend most of their waking hours away from home. In fact, only 14% of
the urban population stay at home all day. While OOH media only garners 11 to 13%
of the total budgets spent on advertising media (depending on who’s
counting), it is still amazing to note that OOH has made its way up to
being the second top awareness builder for brands next to television.
This is where the dissonance comes in. If OOH is the second top
awareness builder for brands among the media choices, why isn’t it
gaining in terms of media adspend to outpace print or radio? There are quick assumptions in answering
that question. Looking around in other markets whether in the region
or globally, seldom do we find OOH media spend exceeding the level of
20% of the total adspend in media. However, one of the most pressing
issues for OOH in the local arena is the validation by way of research
and metrics for OOH media. Yes, there are dipstick surveys which show
that outdoor advertising indeed drives purchase. Such kind of news
provides some relief to the brand managers who have invested much in
outdoor advertising. However, there is a need for more information to
validate items such as the correct selection of OOH media, or the value
of a particular location or site. After all, not all OOH media is
synonymous to spectacular billboard in Guadalupe. A good example of these types of
information would be the revelation in the OOH media research that
billboards parallel to the road may be equally effective at lesser cost
than a billboard facing a motorist head-on or a passenger in the front
seat. Or that the product category which could best benefit from an OOH
media campaign are restaurants. For this hurdle to be addressed, the
industry itself has to come together and decide once and for all to foot
the bill for the necessary metrics. As was done in the more developed
markets, the OOH media industry was catapulted into a preferable
position among its media peers when it had its own numbers available to
back up the investments of clients. Oh how the outdoor advertising industry
wishes that it could leapfrog itself into getting this in place for its
own obvious advantage. However, arising simultaneously are other issues
which sidetrack the industry players in outdoor advertising for
progressive growth in the medium. This is the incessant pressure that
comes in from the governing bodies which have constantly tried to
curtail the growth of the outdoor advertising industry. Thankfully, the Outdoor Advertising
Association of the Philippines has been able to buy the outdoor
advertising industry more time to continue business as usual until
clearer laws are created concerning out-of-home media. Until then,
there will be a need for more information needed to debunk the usual
myths in OOH media which lead to errant selection of OOH such as the
knee-jerk reaction by brands to be on EDSA Guadalupe, or that
bigger-is-better, or even that electronic billboards are more attractive
than the usual flat panel tarpaulins. Surely, OOH has come a long way from
where it started at the turn of the century. And while it will remain
on the rooftops of buildings for a long time, it still needs that major
breakthrough from being held at bay to that meager 11 to 13% of the
total adspend. As it is, we can see it all around. The persisting
problem of daily motor traffic, the mobility of the consumer, the
natural incidence of OOH media as a function of travelling, all these
are actually a good sign (pun intended) for the next fifty years.
BAD FOR MORALS. MMDA asks the advertising firm to remove the suggestive captions from Bench's billboards in the EDSA-Guadalupe area. Photo from Bench's Facebook account
MANILA, Philippines – The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced on Thursday, September 4, that the "a local outdoor advertising firm" had "acceded" to removing suggestive captions from billboards in the Guadalupe area of EDSA.
In a statment, MMDA said Chairman Francis Tolentino "asked the advertiser to roll down their billboards in the area and revise immediately their content which was found to have sexual overtones and offensive to the morals, especially the youth, and the general public as well."
The statement didn't name the "clothing line" whose billboards featured, for example, "a half-nude young couple clad in skimpy denim shorts," but the "profane" captions it cited were similar to those used by Bench Clothing.
The MMDA said among the "obtrusive content of billboards that line Epifanio delos Santos Avenue and JP Rizal Extension" were "Come and Play," "Temptation Calls," and "Express Your Hidden Desires."
Bench has been using "Come and Play, "Temptation Awaits," and "Confess Your Desires," among other slogans.
Tolentino said he took action after Catholic bishops called his attention to the matter.
“We cannot afford this kind of profane language being used in billboards to go unabated because this might lead to the breakdown of the morals of the public,” Tolentino said.
He called on the advertising industry to exercise "self-regulation" and "prudence" in coming up with advertising signs.