One hope. One vision. One nation.
So goes the tagline for the "Richard Gomez for Belo" (not the official title) billboard along EDSA. The controversial piece caused media speculation about Gomez's intent for filing candidacy for the coming May elections. Well, he did file his COC (Certificate of Candidacy) for Senate.
I know. Not another artista legislating our laws.
But oh, you should have seen him bidding farewell in "S-Files" last Sunday. So easy to be spellbound as he made his speech about his intentions. The camera even gave him an extreme close up, so it's pretty hard not to notice him. I was trying not to listen to him and focus on his facial expression, trying to catch the insincerity that has always kind of existed with these wannabe public "servants". The question of who they're serving, of course, has always been a huge question mark.
Anyway, back to the billboard.
The first time I saw this billboard was on television. Again, during the media speculation before Gomez declared on air his intent to run for Senate. I did finally see it on one of those days that I rarely pass through EDSA, or at least, the part of EDSA that goes beyond Ayala. It's a pretty standard-sized billboard with Gomez's headshot. It looked pretty much like a photo for a Canadian Visa application. His facial expression was of stark seriousness, screaming "I mean business". It had a midnight blue background, and the tagline "ONE HOPE. ONE VISION. ONE NATION." was printed on the bottom lefthand corner, written in serif font. Of course, the Belo logo was present on the upper lefthand corner.
The strange thing about this billboard is that the whole thing just doesn't match Belo's brand image at all (quite obvious to all who live here). For the sake of my friends who are living abroad, the Belo Medical Group specializes in cosmetic surgery. "I'd like to thank Vicky Belo" has been quite an ubiquitous sentence among the local celebrities. So unless Belo is trying to portray that our hope as a nation is to look beautiful through cosmetic surgery, this tagline has no business being associated in whatever ad campaign they're doing. And although I know Filipinos are generally concerned about hygiene, proper grooming, and public appearances, I don't think that it is the concern to look physically gorgeous (I won't say beautiful because really, beauty is a wholistic thing) that will ultimately serve as our countrymen's unifying factor. I for one, do not share in this kind of hope or vision for the nation. Sure, I hope for a beautiful country, but I don't envision that kind of beauty to be coming from enhanced physical appearances.
Maybe it's Gomez's platform. Who knows. He certainly missed out explaining that **really** important part during his speech last Sunday. Because clearly, that's what it all boils down to anyway. What are you going to do? and What do you hope to accomplish? are sadly questions that not everyone considers. Hence, not all candidates bother giving answers.
It seems like this post has no unified point, and just wants to rant about the billboard. It just crosses the line. I know politics has been commercialized and "celebretized (celebrity-ized)" for quite a long time now, but this is just not subtle at all. Belo may be a sponsor in Gomez's campaign (of course that occurred to me!), but really, don't associate your brand with political agenda. If you're a sponsor, say so. If I saw that billboard for the first time, I would probably think that Belo is some political agency or Gomez's political party! It's bad politics and it's just bad advertising (and really, it's not like either of them need more advertisements anyway).
Well, I have nothing further to say. With elections just three months away, things are about to get interesting around here. Though not in the way that I'd really hope it to be.
I have to say though, that for a country that is vain to a certain extent (what with all the cosmetic surgery, papaya soaps, whitening solutions, dieting pills, etc), we don't seem to show a lot of concern for our country's physical beauty. There is just something wrong with that picture.
On the side, I am quite pleased that there are a lot of independent candidates. I'm very happy to see that Manny Villar, especially, is running as an independent and is not associating himself with the administration. Good riddance.
I know. Not another artista legislating our laws.
But oh, you should have seen him bidding farewell in "S-Files" last Sunday. So easy to be spellbound as he made his speech about his intentions. The camera even gave him an extreme close up, so it's pretty hard not to notice him. I was trying not to listen to him and focus on his facial expression, trying to catch the insincerity that has always kind of existed with these wannabe public "servants". The question of who they're serving, of course, has always been a huge question mark.
Anyway, back to the billboard.
The first time I saw this billboard was on television. Again, during the media speculation before Gomez declared on air his intent to run for Senate. I did finally see it on one of those days that I rarely pass through EDSA, or at least, the part of EDSA that goes beyond Ayala. It's a pretty standard-sized billboard with Gomez's headshot. It looked pretty much like a photo for a Canadian Visa application. His facial expression was of stark seriousness, screaming "I mean business". It had a midnight blue background, and the tagline "ONE HOPE. ONE VISION. ONE NATION." was printed on the bottom lefthand corner, written in serif font. Of course, the Belo logo was present on the upper lefthand corner.
The strange thing about this billboard is that the whole thing just doesn't match Belo's brand image at all (quite obvious to all who live here). For the sake of my friends who are living abroad, the Belo Medical Group specializes in cosmetic surgery. "I'd like to thank Vicky Belo" has been quite an ubiquitous sentence among the local celebrities. So unless Belo is trying to portray that our hope as a nation is to look beautiful through cosmetic surgery, this tagline has no business being associated in whatever ad campaign they're doing. And although I know Filipinos are generally concerned about hygiene, proper grooming, and public appearances, I don't think that it is the concern to look physically gorgeous (I won't say beautiful because really, beauty is a wholistic thing) that will ultimately serve as our countrymen's unifying factor. I for one, do not share in this kind of hope or vision for the nation. Sure, I hope for a beautiful country, but I don't envision that kind of beauty to be coming from enhanced physical appearances.
Maybe it's Gomez's platform. Who knows. He certainly missed out explaining that **really** important part during his speech last Sunday. Because clearly, that's what it all boils down to anyway. What are you going to do? and What do you hope to accomplish? are sadly questions that not everyone considers. Hence, not all candidates bother giving answers.
It seems like this post has no unified point, and just wants to rant about the billboard. It just crosses the line. I know politics has been commercialized and "celebretized (celebrity-ized)" for quite a long time now, but this is just not subtle at all. Belo may be a sponsor in Gomez's campaign (of course that occurred to me!), but really, don't associate your brand with political agenda. If you're a sponsor, say so. If I saw that billboard for the first time, I would probably think that Belo is some political agency or Gomez's political party! It's bad politics and it's just bad advertising (and really, it's not like either of them need more advertisements anyway).
Well, I have nothing further to say. With elections just three months away, things are about to get interesting around here. Though not in the way that I'd really hope it to be.
I have to say though, that for a country that is vain to a certain extent (what with all the cosmetic surgery, papaya soaps, whitening solutions, dieting pills, etc), we don't seem to show a lot of concern for our country's physical beauty. There is just something wrong with that picture.
On the side, I am quite pleased that there are a lot of independent candidates. I'm very happy to see that Manny Villar, especially, is running as an independent and is not associating himself with the administration. Good riddance.
hugs, 
@ 1:39 PM
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