Thursday, May 28, 2009

Mommies and their children

The other night, the Lactum ad in particular caught my attention during a typically uneventful Tayong Dalawa break time. And I realized just how stupid, how socially detrimental the ad is.

See, before the ad proper where Jodi Sta. Maria comes out to glorify Lactum in all its supposed goodness, there’s this series of mommies who complain about their children’s monotonous eating habits (Jodi being one of them).

The first mommy, from PAMPANGA, complains that her child only wants to eat LONGGANISA (if this is the wrong spelling, then this is how it should be spelled). The second mommy, from ILOILO, is troubled that her child wants only BATCHOY. The third mommy (you know who), from MANILA, says her child eats only FRIED CHICKEN.

Well, this is just crap!

Are these even supposed to be Filipino food analogies? More crap!

Why did they have to have the food analogy thingy in the first place, anyway? Did they think that having to state the place of origin and the food of addiction are really, really necessary? Oh come on, the place and food are totally unnecessary, and besides, if they’re meant to add ‘color’ (pun intended) to the ad, then they’re just creating a mishmash of irrelevant colors.

Why the heck would a child from Pampanga be addicted to longganisa?! Or batchoy, in the Ilonggo’s case? Or, ehem, fried chicken (?!) for Thirdy Lacson (surprise, surprise, I actually know Lacson III and Jodi’s son’s name)? More crap. Why don’t you try feeding an “extremely picky child” (as illustrated by the ad) the same kind of food everyday and let’s see how he’d love it.

If there’s anyone to blame for the children’s ‘addiction’, it's the mommies. Why, can the children cook and/or fend for themselves?! Does Thirdy really have money to buy all that fried chicken?! Duh, if you mommies don't overfeed your children with stuff, there won't be any addictions to worry about!

Speaking of food addiction, that’s totally against the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility. Unless of course there’s an abnormal digestive ek-ek that we've yet to find out.

Oh, and if the children really were supposed to be addicted to the food in this FICTIONAL ad, then why use the food analogies? Ads are supposed to bear clarity. Duh, why use longganisa and batchoy? Why not Angus steak or eggplant, or sautéed leg of lamb in tartar sauce?

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