By now, surely, you’ve seen the new Smart LGBT TV ad, right? If you haven’t yet, you can watch it here.
Beautiful, isn’t it? I almost shed a tear the first time I saw it!
Living in a country where citizens are mostly Roman Catholic, the natural conservative culture of Filipinos has left a taboo on talks of gender falling under the LGBT spectrum. So, yes, a major brand in the Philippines like Smart releasing an advertisement opening its doors on the subject is a big deal. And we love it.
And here’s a reason to love the advertisement even more.
Facebook user Luis Enriquez wrote an analysis of the commercial, and it’s only made me appreciate all the art in creating the ad even more. That beneath stories—however big or small—are even smaller stories, all of which are intrinsic to creating powerful messages such as this one.
Here is what Luis wrote:
MEDALS AND PICTURE FRAMES
Looking at Smart’s new ad up close
04 July 2016Sharing about this again because I noticed…
Posted by Luis Enriquez on Monday, July 4, 2016
“MEDALS AND PICTURE FRAMES
Looking at Smart’s new ad up close
04 July 2016
Sharing about this again because I noticed some things while rewatching. Spoiler alert! Watch it first here:
https://youtu.be/CHp-9aSQrk0
The commercial is already beautiful on the surface but there’s an over-looked detail in this commercial:
Kevin’s father was (once) a decorated and high-ranking official of the Philippine Air Force, as evidenced by the photos on the table where Tatay Manuel picks up his phone. From my research, seems like he’s a retired PAF chief/commanding general, because of the multistriped ribbon around his neck. Possibly taken at a change of command ceremony, as I saw online. Just can’t seem to find the stars that would confirm his rank.
And yes, there was a deliberate move to highlight this: the picture frame first appears facing the viewer, with the dining area in the background. The next time it appears, it faces the viewer still but from the dining table angle.
Kevin’s hesitation to reveal his identity to his father would then have a deeper story, one which would possibly uncover the tension and conflict of growing up with expectations of being masculine, and how “disappointing” it might be for a general to have a gay son, what more if he was panganay na anak (eldest child, which I believe he is) who carries the family name.
It is interesting to note also how the use of pictures/picture frames propel the storytelling. In their home, picture frames give away the story of Manuel and the Silverio family. For Kevin, it is the digital frames of Facebook, which tell his – a good way of translating the transition from the old Smart to a new, digital one.
Read through the descriptions of each of the screenshots for some thoughts on finer details of the commercial.
Salute to the team behind this ad! (And sobrang marketing game strong from young professionals, many LGBT, and up to middle-aged parents, experimenting with Facebook). Galing!”
Pretty cool, huh? Did you notice more hidden messages or stories within the ad? Let us know about it. 🙂
