Capitol’s tv ad
-A A +AFriday, August 3, 2012
FINALLY, I saw on YouTube the TV advertisement that promotes (kuno) Cebu after it was launched by Capitol last Tuesday during the opening of the weeklong celebration of the province's 443rd founding anniversary. The commercial will be aired in selected local and national TV stations.
As expected, Gov. Gwen Garcia was the main focus of the 30-seconder. She was shown wearing a black t-shirt with the words “Gwen loves Cebu” printed on it. She flashed the No. 1 sign and on the screen were the words “number one in tourism” with videos on some tourist destinations in the province.
It segued to number one in business, investments and job generation. In the background were videos of power plants, factories and people in the working place or lining up in job fairs. Number one in service followed, showing Gwen joining a feeding activity.
Then footages of her participation in the Sinulog dance were flashed with her voice-over that said: “The success of Cebu is the success of the entire Philippines.” The ad ended with Gwen on one side smiling and saying “tara na sa Cebu.” An image of the Sto. Niño and a map of the country were visible on the opposite side.
In fairness, the TV ad was well-produced. I was informed that a Manila-based video production company produced it. But how much did it cost? I don't know what will be the reaction of people in Manila once it is aired on national television.
But to avoid accusations of politicking, Gwen shouldn’t have involved herself in the production. She should have hired popular Cebuano showbiz personalities to do the “hard sell” like Pilita Corrales, Pilar Pilapil, Isabel Oli and others. People will be discouraged upon seeing her face. Morag sum-olan na ang mga manan-aw.
But we know Gwen’s intention. It's like hitting two birds with one stone. She promotes Cebu to domestic and foreign tourists while at the same time introduces herself to Filipino voters in keeping with her intention to run for senator.
What is wrong is that it is the Cebuano taxpayers who are paying for the air time. Do you know how much it costs to advertise in national television? It's between P250,000 to P300,000 per 30 seconds. Libre ug sakay lang siya.
But will the TV ad serve its purpose? I say it won’t. In the first place, they conceptualized the ad after Cebu was overtaken by Camarines Sur in terms of tourist visits.
Camsur became popular because of wakeboarding, a kind of surface water sport that involves riding a wakeboard over the surface of a body of water. It is a combination of water skiing, snowboarding and surfing. The rider is usually towed behind a motorboat at a speed of 17-24 miles per hour. Cebu also lost to Camsur as host of last year’s Advertising Congress.
Now, if the purpose of the ad is to entice domestic and foreign tourists to visit Cebu, they should have showcased the various tourist destinations of the province, like first class hotels and beach resorts in Mactan, Malapascua and Bantayan Islands; the Kawasan falls in Badian; the diving spots in Moalboal and Sumilon island; and many more.
Why include in the TV ad business, investments, power generation and public service programs of the governor? We are not inviting tourists to work here or to engage in public service like what the governor does. The purpose of the ad is not to sell Cebu to investors but to invite them to visit our place.
So why not limit the content of that ad to tourism-related matters and not to her achievements and public service programs? Walay paki-alam ang mga turista kun unsay nahimo sa gobernador. Ang ila lang nga malingaw sila diri.
Klaro lang gyud kaayo nga gigamit lang na sa iyang ambisyon sa pulitika. The TV ad does not sell Cebu to tourists but sells Gwen to Filipino voters.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on August 04, 2012.
Opinion
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