The Opening Acts

Comparing Ping, Isko, Leni, Bong Go, and Bongbong’s opening ads for the 2022 race

If the 2022 presidential race has one lesson to tell, it is that first impressions matter. As the deadline for substitution has ended, the playing field for the elections has been more or less determined. Now, it is time for candidates to set the tone for their campaign.

Television advertisements are the primary means of communication candidates use to speak to the voters. It has its clear advantages. First, a TV ad is controlled. Every candidate has control over what they can say and what they want the people to hear from or about them. Second, TV ads are easy to digest. They are dumbed down, short versions of a candidate’s vision for the country. Third, TV ads have high viewership. If Filipinos still turn to their TVs as a source of news, they remain relevant for the time being.

However, they also pose their own limitations. One is that TV ads are a hit or miss.The chances of conversion are difficult to gauge because of the one-way nature of advertisements. You can control your message, but everything else is unpredictable. Another is that even if they are easy to digest, they are also too short to compress your overall message into it. You basically have 30 to 60 seconds to make your case to the people.

Given that advertisements are short and controlled messages, let’s find out the tone these campaigns have been trying to set as the theme of their campaign, and I’ll go about them by how I believe they should be ranked.

BONG GO

I’ll begin with Bong Go’s since I find it to be the least creative and imaginative advertisement. The first impression he’s trying to make here is pretty clear: he will continue what Duterte has started. This is clearly a case for the Duterte Legacy which may still hold an electoral constituency in the coming year.

In terms of its production value, it is obviously a pile of sloppy green screened clips of the administration’s programs and projects. If for anything, it lacks imagination and color. It’s one thing for the ad to be straightforward enough to be understood — it’s another thing for it to actually convert into votes.

LENI ROBREDO

Sorry, kakampinks, her first ad just isn’t our time yet. This is obviously a “classic” Leni advertisement that captures her femininity: empathy and warmth. Ano bang takot mo? is a clear opposition message since it gives a grim assessment of the nation’s state. Oras na pumili muli is an attempt at telling the people: here’s an alternative, in case you need it.

Impressively, it was not as prescriptive as it might have been if they used the old matino messaging from 2016 and 2019. Their best prescription was a socially-acceptable norm: Ang dapat piliin walang bahid ng korapsyon. And when she got to here concluding line, it was araw-araw, pinipili kita.

There was no forceful message, nor a compelling one. The production technique was emotional, but the message was rational. It was as if it was only meant to inform the voter: Leni Robredo is an alternative choice if you feel like things aren’t right. She’s not corrupt, and she’s willing to choose you everyday. Take it or leave it. It’s not bad, but it’s just decent. Going up against intense competition, this ad might be behind.

But let’s cut her some slack. Her campaign began on October 5 while the rest of the field has been prepared months before. This does not look like the official tone of the Robredo campaign yet that has been tried and tested through their internal polling, if they have any.

PING LACSON

Sino ang gusto mong maging leader natin? Perhaps this is the most basic ad ever. But then why would I rank this above the Robredo ad? That’s because at least this one provides a clear direction and an attempt to compel the voter.

The production technique in this opening salvo is clear: since Ping is an uncharismatic and relatively boring guy, he has to let random characters playing as ordinary Filipinos speak for him. They tell all sorts of positive traits with one end in mind, best told by the last woman who spoke: Parang ang gulo-gulo naman ng lahat ngayon, kaya dapat, leader natin si Ping.

So Ping Lacson is banking on a rational appeal towards experience and stability. It fits his brand. Since he has a calm and tough demeanor, he can represent stability for a country that they assess to be magulo. He kind of drew the line with the administration on that one.

But what’s so wrong about this ad? It’s that it’s too basic and boring. It gives you the same old normative preconceptions of a leader. Ping needs to amp up his messaging soon because this tone he’s setting might not be enough. Even the surveys could agree.

BONGBONG MARCOS

For an ad that recycles production techniques from his 2010 Tuloy-tuloy ad, he actually nailed it quite well. Bangon Bayan Muli which is a play on his initials BBM is the central message he is trying to convey.

That’s because with the song Umagang Kay Ganda, he simplifies life as a story of hope. Sabay-sabay tayong lahat na babangon is his way of saying “Relax, help is on the way. Stay hopeful.” Isn’t that just reassuring? There’s the feel-good element of the song, the children, and the characters that it’s irresistible not to think about how life can be just as simple as that.

And maybe that’s what people need now: life put simply. No complications. No quarantine classifications. No masks. No vaccine requirements. No curfews. No checkpoints. Basta’t tayo’y magkasama, laging mayroong umagang kay ganda.

Bongbong was able to turn a pile of frustration into a ray of hope by spending 60 seconds talking about how life is like a windmill. And we’re all falling for it. Isn’t advertising great?

ISKO MORENO

Ako si Isko deserves a lot of credit that it must be the best in the pack. This message was a clear emotional appeal to the ordinary Filipino: that like all of them, Isko is the only candidate who knows what its like to work his way up from the depths of poverty.

The production technique was perhaps the most innovative of the bunch. It was his old speech in a graduation being dubbed by ordinary Filipinos — literally, Isko was talking through the ordinary Pinoy. Brilliant, right?

And he ends with ako kayo, hindi sumusuko. That’s a subtle assessment that the Filipino is currently in crisis but is not backing down.

The opening salvo of Isko Moreno clearly creates a narrative that he is the candidate of the ordinary person. He has an inspiring life story and a relatable one at that. For the middle class, they identify with his rags-to-riches narrative. For the lower classes, they see hope in the story of Isko.

No wonder, this message has been driving his populist campaign and effectively getting the attention of people who have been closely listening to him.

DISCUSSION

So now that we’ve seen all five, what do they all have in common?

For an opening salvo, their first component is a worldview. What is going on and how do the voters feel about it? The path to persuasion is always meeting your target audience where they are.

Bong Go provides a worldview that the status quo must be preserved. Leni argues that the people are afraid. Ping says that things are magulo and require stability. Bongbong thinks that life’s too complicated and we need to approach it simply. Isko knows the people are in crisis but also that they won’t give up, just like him.

Based on each worldview, the answer lies somewhere around the lines of BBM and Isko. Perhaps the voter has been too frustrated with the past 2 years that they’re tired of being angry — or rather, they’re really just tired. So if you’re running on fear, maybe that’s an emotion that isn’t enough yet. Maybe people want hope and reassurance, not someone who just states a problem for them.

The second component is their method of appeal. How do they intend to strike the message? Through reason or through emotion?

Bong Go and Ping Lacson clearly ran on rational appeals. For them, the choice is clear: we need stability moving forward. Leni was just unclear as to what she wanted to convey, so its hard to say if she went for the brain or the heart. Isko and BBM, meanwhile, were obviously appeals to emotion. Whether it be feel-good or inspirational narratives, it seems like people need a good story nowadays when they hear nothing else but death and sickness.

The third component is the big idea. What’s your vision or your big concept that you want to take moving forward?

Bong Go is Tuloy-tuloy, Bong. Leni is Pumili Muli. Ping is Aayusin ang Gobyerno, Aayusin ang Buhay Mo. Bongbong is Bangon Bayan Muli. Isko is Ako si Isko.

Out of the five, of course Bong Go has the worst because it literally gives you nothing. For Leni, I have already said, her ad was more of a take it or leave it rather than a means of persuasion — she’s asking you to choose, anyway. Ping’s is just bland because it doesn’t capture the people’s imaginations.

Bongbong’s message is special because it captures the Marcos nostalgia that he carries. He aims to build back the nation based on how his father did it. Hence, Bangon Bayan Muli. Isko, meanwhile, is banking on a personal narrative which they evolved into an “I am you, you are me” narrative. If for anything, these two connect with voters because the voters are included in the message. Whether it be the idea that they will rise up again with the appeal of Marcos nostalgia or that they have a leader who lived a life like theirs, what matters is that if you’re going to tell the people a story, make sure they’re also included in it.

The main takeaway? Advertisements are 30- to 60-second stories, yet they can be very powerful in setting the tone for campaigns. You may have seen how some can hit or miss. What matters is that you know what the voters want to hear and include them in that story of yours. That is how you capture a voter’s imagination.

And once a candidate is in a voter’s imagination, the prospect of them leading the country would now be a matter of trust, comfort, and confidence. All because they said the right message at the right time.