An Analogy of a Commercial

One thing that binds us as humans is a shared sense of humor - Ralph Fiennes

Quirky Commercial

Orocan, a well-known brand for its quality-centric plastic products and unique brand identity, has yet again captured the smiles and laughter of the digital natives. Long before, Orocan has released a bunch of humorous commercials and spoofs to promote their product, such as the 'TotoO Shopping' Koolit Cantina film and their 2021 Icebox Campaign with 'Ms. Hurt' that impersonates the celebrity actress Heart Evangelista. On November 16, 2021, Orocan unveiled a commercial for their new product, "Orocan Timba," on its YouTube and Facebook page, but it was not a commercial that we all used to know and recognize. The commercial was presented in such a way that utilizes a unique sense of humor that captivated the laughs of 300k netizens in Facebook and was viewed by 1.5 million netizens in YouTube.

Techniques used in the commercial

The Orocan commercial entitled "Pa-star ang Orocan Timba namin!" made by GIGIL, an ideas company based in the Philippines that seeks to break the monotonous approach of common TV commercials, has delivered once again a comical presentation of Orocan's fable Timba product. They unveiled the product surprisingly familiar to the masses, which is somewhat inspired by the superman-Esque introduction of the superhero Superman. Although it was not confirmed, the commercial's music clearly utilized the classic "dundun" in the soundtrack from the 1978 Richard Donner film "Superman." Many people adored this other-worldly introduction of the product as Orocan clearly wanted to evoke the sense of unearthly durability of their Timba. Apart from this, they also made an AR filter to showcase the Timba's origin, which they called the "Timba constellation."

Target Audience

With the rise of social media, all sorts of unique ways to capture the attention of the netizens have been sprouting out. And one of the long-studied approaches to getting people’s attention is by using humor as a gateway to amass a lot of attention. The Millenials (1981-1995) and the Gen-Z (1996-2010) were the focus of the commercial. Both Orocan and GIGIL both collaborated to create a humorous revelation of a new product. They utilized the sense of nostalgia to capture both the Millenials’ and Gen-Z’s lean toward media by using the soundtrack of the iconic Superman.

Ethical Considerations

Orocan and GIGIL depicted the water access problem in the country. The man who was in the commercial, despite having a modern phone, uses a manual water pump to take a bath. The lack of proper water access that flows directly on the faucets of our homes is not accessible to most people. This is due to the lack of water pumping facilities and also a costly billing for water installation and access despite the nation’s developing economy. Moreover, the commercial also depicted the uncontrolled availability of substandard products that are plaguing the country through the illegal importation of products that did not meet the country’s product standards.

References

DTI finds 'substandard' products in Eastern Visayas. (2022). Retrieved 3 May 2022, from https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170107

Cheng, M. (2022). 8 Characteristics Of Millennials That Support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Retrieved 3 May 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/margueritacheng/2019/06/19/8-characteristics-of-millennials-that-support-sustainable-development-goals-sdgs/

Andrew, B. (2022). Retrieved 3 May 2022, from https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/improving-water-security-in-the-philippines

Cheers,

Adam