Over my 8 year career as a marketing/advertising professional, I’ve produced a lot of TV campaigns.

A lot of them, I like a lot. Some others, I find very forgettable. Some were rooted in great insights, and resonated wonderfully with their respective target audiences. Others really had no emotional depth to them – dinaan lang sa production values, as some people would say.

There are a few I can’t find – mostly from the pre-YouTube era. I wish I’d hung onto them.

But anyway. Here are the campaigns I’ve done.

*****

1.
Lady’s Choice Sandwich Spread: “Isipin Mo Na Lang”

My first ever TV commercial, and perhaps the one I’m the most proud of. It’s a simple story with simple production values, but very charming and engaging nevertheless. Mommies told us they loved the material; it painted a picture of Lady’s Choice as “mom’s invisible hand in her kids’ lunchboxes,” giving her a bit of reassurance as they go off to eat the one meal of the day that doesn’t fall under mom’s direct supervision.

2.
Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise: “Sharon Cuneta’s Megadelicious Dip”

A lot of people said this was a poor choice of endorser; this was Ate Shawie still recovering from pregnancy-induced weight gain. “Why would you choose someone like that to sell mayonnaise?” they asked.

Simple.

Because she captures the simple joy of eating like nobody else does – no pretensions, no inhibitions, just pure sensuous satisfaction. We should all learn to eat the way she does. I love her.

It’s true that we had to provide a lechon for each shoot day – but it wasn’t all for her, and she deserved it. Shooting with her was like a fiesta – so professional, no bad takes, wonderful rapport with co-talents and production.

Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise  ”Endorsers”

Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise “Drama (30s)”

Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise “Drama (15s)”

Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise “Ikaw”

Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise “Balat Sibuyas”

3.
Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise “A Little To A Lot”

I don’t have a lot of memories on this material. I think we were midstream in transitioning the brand into a new positioning, but needed to capitalize on the key Christmas season.

I personally don’t eat a lot of macaroni salad. But some people do, and the sales we got over the duration of this campaign were astounding.

4.
Lady’s Choice Easy-Squeeze Bottle “Worms” 30s

The last TVC I made during my Unilever career, for one of the most fun innovations I got to do – the upside-down easy-squeeze bottle. I’m not a gourmet chef, by any means, but I do try to be artsy with my food in little ways, and this little commercial shows the liberation to create when you have the right tools in your hands – in this case, a wonderfully handy squeezable bottle to put a little personal flourish on the food one puts on one’s table.

5.
Royal Tru-Orange “Ilabas Ang Kulit”

My first ever TVC produced during my fabulously fun 2-year run in the advertising industry – a relaunch for the iconic Royal Tru-Orange brand, which had launched multiple legendary campaigns in the Philippines (RJ Ledesma’s “Joey” series, Francis M‘s “Ito Ang Gusto Ko”), but had fallen dormant in recent years.

The first material, “Battlebots” was incredibly stressful to produce. Direk Henry Frejas refused to rely on CG for the vendo robot – we actually had to create a real-life robot that could transform to and from its vendo and robot forms. What a headache. Each take required a 12-hour downtime to re-position all the parts back to their starting position. But it was well worth it. I can’t help but smile when I see that damn robot.

The follow-up material, “Bike,” was relatively easy to produce. We had a better grasp of what “kulit” meant in the eyes of tweens, and wanted to just have some fun with their very juvenile brand of humor.

This was the total opposite of “Battlebots.” Production was a breeze. Clients literally approved the offline and online materials in 10 minutes. Ganyan ang gusto ko!

6.
IAMNINOY “Glasses”

I am proud of this particular material not only as an advertising professional, but as a Filipino citizen. The Benigno S. Aquino Foundation had one simple objective – create a new breed of self-starting heroism in this country. I think the ad delivered.

As random trivia, please note how MDJ Superstar was the only one allowed to deliver one complete sentence in the entire material. Oh, the perks of being the Account Director on the project…

7.
Eden “Recipes” Series

Our challenge to the creative agency, JWT, was to present a creative way on how to make a recipe instructional TVC in a span of just 15-seconds per material.

Did they deliver? I think so.

8.
Tang Pick & Go “Tang Goes To School”

I came onto this project mid-stream, when the storyboards had already been essentially approved, so my involvement here was mainly on the production side. I love working with kids, despite the DOLE limitations on how many hours per day they can shoot. And of course, the lead talent Xyriel Manabat, was a joy to work with. What an adorable kid.

9.
Tang Pulpy “Operation”

We told Ogilvy, the creative agency, give us a spectacular launch material for a first-of-its-kind innovation! Make it Spielberg-esque, but with a Peque Gallaga budget!

And they did.

* – Also of note, with this material, I have now officially worked with 3 of the 4 directors who did the 2010 Ad Congress “Ano Sa Tingin Mo” series. This was an AF Beaniza material, while I’d gotten to work with Henry Frejas on Royal Tru-Orange, and Carlo Directo for the prior Pick & Go material.

*****

I’m missing three key campaigns on this list, but I guess the fact that they aren’t on YouTube is very telling…